The Lone Star Flight Museum (LSFM) has announced the selection of four new inductees into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame (TAHOF). The TAHOF selection committee has named Colleen C. Barrett, R. Walter Cunningham (posthumously) Wally Funk and Heather Wilson to the Class of 2024.
This esteemed group will be officially inducted on Friday, April 19 at the 2024 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and luncheon at the Lone Star Flight Museum located at Houston’s Ellington Airport.
Douglas H. Owens, Lieutenant General (ret), and President & CEO of the museum, said, “We are thrilled about these four worthy individuals going into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. Supporters of the Hall of Fame are who make this ceremony possible for these amazing people. We are excited to honor all of them.”
The 2024 Inductees:
COLLEEN C. BARRETT served as President of Southwest Airlines from 2001 to 2008 as the first female president of a major airline. Her business savvy and genuine heart for others laid the foundation for Southwest Airlines’ one-of-a-kind culture and legendary customer service.
R. WALTER CUNNINGHAM (1932-2023) served his country as a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot in Korea before traveling to space as an Apollo 7 astronaut and leading NASA’s Astronaut Offices’ Skylab branch until 1971.
WALLY FUNK is a trailblazer. A member of the Mercury 13 “Women in Space” program and the first female FAA flight inspector and National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator, she is the oldest woman to fly in space.
HEATHER WILSON was the 24th Secretary of the Air Force. She also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently the President of the University of Texas at El Paso.
The Texas Aviation Hall of Fame was established in 1995 through a resolution by the 74th Texas Legislature and signed by then Gov. George W. Bush to honor and recognize Texans and Texas companies or organizations that have made significant and lasting contributions to the advancement of aviation. There are currently 93 individuals and groups in the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame, in four categories which include trailblazers and explorers, wartime aviators, leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators. The 2024 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame inductees join an impressive list of past inductees representing trailblazers and explorers such as Bessie Coleman and Wiley Post; leaders such as Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush; World War II aviators Tex Hill, the Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen and Women Airforce Service Pilots; astronauts Eileen Collins, Joe Engle and Gene Cernan; and entrepreneurs Howard Hughes and Rod Lewis.
To learn more about the 2024 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame inductees, visit LoneStarFlight.org/TAHOF2024.
To become a 2024 Texas Aviation Hall of Fame event sponsor, visit LoneStarFlight.org/TAHOF2024 or call 346-352-7678. Individual tickets for the event will be available for purchase March 25, 2024.
