NBAA Announces Recipients of 2025 Steve Brown Leadership Scholarship

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today announced the recipients of the Steve Brown Leadership Scholarship, in honor of the association’s former chief operating officer, who retired in 2022.

The scholarship was created by NBAA, in coordination with NBAA Charities, to support students interested in pursuing a career in business aviation who are currently enrolled in programs to achieve this goal. Up to two awards of $1,500 each will be given out annually.

The winners of this year’s scholarship are:

  • Adva Amir, a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • Brian McDonald, a student at Hampton University

Brown joined NBAA in October 2004 as senior vice president of operations before being named COO in 2010.

Prior to joining NBAA, he served for six years as the FAA’s associate administrator for air traffic services, and in that capacity, he was pivotal to the national response to the attacks on 9/11. Before that, he served as president of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) and senior vice president, government affairs for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He was a member of the faculty at Texas A&M University, where he taught several aviation-related courses.

NBAA Charities offers monetary and training scholarships for both students and aviation professionals, such as flight department managers, pilots, maintenance technicians, schedulers, dispatchers, flight attendants and flight technicians. These scholarships, which total nearly $100,000 annually, are administered by NBAA standing committees and would not be possible without the generous financial support of NBAA member donors.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.