![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/heather-wilson-closeup.jpg\")
Dr. Wilson is the President of The University of Texas at El\nPaso, one of the top 5% of research universities and one of the nation\u2019s\nleading Hispanic-serving institutions. She previously served as the 24th\nSecretary of the Air Force and represented New Mexico in the U.S. Congress for\na decade. She graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in the third class to\ninclude women and earned her master\u2019s and doctoral degrees as a Rhodes Scholar\nat Oxford University in England. Wilson is an instrument-rated private pilot\nand aircraft owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWomen are underrepresented in aviation and I look forward\nto working with Secretary Chao, the FAA, and the advisory board to develop\nstrategies that will encourage more women to consider careers in the aviation\nindustry,\u201d Dr. Wilson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The WIAAB was established on October 3, 2019, under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018. The purpose of the WIAAB is to develop strategies and recommendations that would encourage women and girls to enter the field of aviation. The WIAAB will assess education, training, mentorship, outreach, and recruitment of women in the aviation industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Former State Aviation Official Appointed <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindsey Dreiling, Executive Director of Aviation Strategy for Kansas State University was selected as one of the thirty board members. She spearheads the Global Aeronautics Initiative to enhance aviation education and training while broadening access for underrepresented groups in aviation. Dreiling served as Deputy Director for the Kansas Department of Transportation Aviation Division, where her primary focus was on supporting the air transportation system and delivering powerful solutions for the state of Kansas. She drove aviation strategies to support economic development, promote professional aviation training, and enhance aviation outreach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Board members represent a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise, including those from major airlines and aerospace companies, nonprofit organizations within the aviation industry, aviation and engineering business associations, the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol, and institutions of higher education and aviation trade schools. A full list of appointees and their biographies is available here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom Secretary Chao to the several women on my senior\nleadership team, and the more than 10,000 women in the FAA, we see the\nprofessionalism and contributions that make our aviation industry the gold\nstandard for the world every day,\u201d said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. \u201cWe\nsalute the WIAAB\u2019s new board members for their commitment to illuminate this\ncareer path for more women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Federal Register Notice to solicit nominations for\ncandidates to serve on the Board was published on October 8, 2019, and closed\nOctober 29, 2019. Nearly 200 competitive\napplicant packages were submitted for consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members will be appointed to the WIAAB for the duration of\nits existence, which is anticipated to be a minimum of 2 years and will meet up\nto two times per year to carry out its duties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced the appointment of 30 board members to the newly-formed Women in Aviation Advisory Board (WIAAB). Former U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson will serve as chair of the board. \u201cThe Department welcomes Dr. Heather Wilson and these accomplished advisory board members, who share a commitment and passion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15486,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15484\/revisions\/15486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/e87f320d3afba63a319b38d2d\/images\/3e7f80ef-781b-466f-bad0-913b7b38f164.jpg\")