{"id":22876,"date":"2022-07-20T17:17:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T17:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=22876"},"modified":"2022-07-20T17:18:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T17:18:48","slug":"contemporary-women-in-aviation-a-series-stephanie-ward-aicp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/uncategorized\/contemporary-women-in-aviation-a-series-stephanie-ward-aicp\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Contemporary Women in Aviation – Stephanie Ward, AICP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Series by Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you first get inspired to work\nin the aviation industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephanie Ward<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in the age of NASA and the\nastronauts, Stephanie thought one day she would be in orbit. \u201cIn high school, I\naspired to be an astronaut. I was told I\u2019d have a greater chance of pursing\nthat goal if I already had my private pilot license. So, as soon as I could\ndrive myself to the airport, I began my flight lessons. In 1986, I achieved my\nprivate pilot license, prior to my graduating high school. It took me two\nsummers, learning to fly out of a small privately-owned, grass runway, Arnold\nField. My CFI was a former WWII pilot. My dad watched me solo in the fall of\n1985. He thought I was doing it wrong. So, he began lessons, too. We actually\ngot our licenses within 30 days of each other. I got mine first! To support his\ntraining, my dad purchased a Cherokee 140 which he owns and flies to this day.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1987, America\u2019s #1 Billboard song\nwas \u201cWalk like an Egyptian,\u201d ABC TV Full House was popular, and President\nRonald Reagan gave his now famous Berlin Wall speech, \u201cMr. Gorbachev, tear down\nthis wall.\u201d Stephanie was a Michigan State University electrical engineering\nstudent, and in Air Force ROTC. \u201cUnfortunately, that path didn\u2019t work out due\nto an issue with my vision and calculus grades, so I left the ROTC program. I\npursued Urban Planning. I assumed that my passion for aviation would be hobby\nflying. I figured I would become a city planner or maybe a private consultant,\nwho developed community master plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
College students, Stephanie, in the left seat of her Dad\u2019s Cherokee 140 with sister, Bobbie, also a licensed pilot, flying back to Michigan State University in Lansing. (Courtesy photo)<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree months before I graduated with a\nBS in Urban Planning, a local aviation engineering firm, which worked almost\nexclusively in Michigan, needed a planner for their aviation projects. I\napplied and 31 years later, I am still an aviation planner, working\ncoast-to-coast on some pretty cool projects. Planning everything from turf\nrunways to statewide aviation systems. Conducting national research. In 1999,\nMead & Hunt acquired my first firm. I\u2019ve now been with Mead & Hunt for\nover 23 years. I love what I do and strive to educate others about the wide\nvariety of aviation\/airport careers.\u201d Stephanie is a Vice-President and\nDepartment Manager of Aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mead & Hunt, Inc.is a national,\nfull-service architectural and engineering firm. The growth of the company has\nmirrored the changing markets of the country\u2014as infrastructure needs expanded,\nso did the company services. In the 1950s with the advent of our commercial\nairline age, America\u2019s airports needed expansion and increased capacity. Mead\n& Hunt\u2019s prior experience designing military bases naturally led into our commercial\naviation industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their Aviation portfolio is impressive.\nA few projects are: Centennial Airport Aviation Community and Administrative\nFacility, Yampa Valley Regional Airport Terminal, La Crosse Regional Airport\nTerminal Improvements, Denver International Airport B-West Concourse Expansion,\nJet Aviation Scottsdale, and Central Nebraska Airport Terminal Design. Today,\nMead & Hunt celebrates 120 years in business with over 900 professionals nationwide\nwith 40 offices across America. Learn more at www.MeadHunt.com<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s your first memory of aviation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephanie frequently shares her airport planning expertise across the nation. After an important Alaska aviation conference, Stephanie and husband, Tom, stand at Coldfoot Airport (CXF), above the article circle with the passenger plane which flew them there. They are exploring Alaskan airports, of course. (Courtesy photograph).<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere I grew up in the \u2018thumb\u2019 of\nMichigan, we lived within sight of one of the primary flight paths for the U.S.\nAir Force and Michigan National Guard flights between Selfridge Air Force Base,\ntheir training range at Camp Grayling in northern Michigan, Oscoda Wurtsmith\nAFB, Kinross AFB, and K.I. Sawyer AFB. We were more than 60 nautical miles away\nfrom Selfridge, so the planes were always just high enough to be detailed but\nnot close enough to be noisy. For as long as I can remember, we would see\nplanes of all shapes and sizes flying overhead. I think that is where my\ninterest arose,\u201d Stephanie replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has inspired you the most (any\nmentors you want to mention?)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t have too many, if any female\nmentors, since there were very few in the airport planning industry when I\nstarted. My dad is probably my biggest inspiration because he always told me\nthat girls could do anything boys could do when I was growing up. I think that\nstuck with me early in my career when I\u2019d be one of the only females at\naviation conferences or the only woman in an airport meeting. It was\nintimidating early on and being a private pilot was often the only \u2018in\u2019 that I\nhad that would get me any credibility when presenting to an airport board that\nwas entirely men, many old enough to be my grandfather. One board member even\ntold me he had socks that were older than I was so what could I possibly know\nabout planning his airport. My response was \u2018Well, I\u2019m a pilot so I at least\nknow how to use the airport\u2019\u2013 that got a laugh and kept me at the table. In\nthat instance, that airport has been a client for over 30 years where I\u2019ve had\nthe pleasure of planning and watching a runway extension of 1,000 feet take\nplace, along with the acquisition of over 150 homes and more than 300 avigation\neasements,\u201d Ward responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice for other women inside our industry\nor thinking about aviation and aerospace?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephanie makes a presentation at a Minnesota Airports Conference. <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe world\nis your oyster! There has never been a better time to get into aviation with a huge\ndemand for about every career out there! There are so many awesome careers in\naviation offering a very rewarding and fulfilling career. The research we did\non ACRP Report 202 – Developing Innovative Strategies for Aviation Education\nand Participation <\/em>really highlighted the narrow view the general public has\non the types of aviation careers. They think there are pilots and flight\nattendants. They have no idea of the need for airport managers, operations\nstaff, or airport firefighters, or avionics technicians. Many people, adults\nand kids alike, have no idea that jobs, like mine, even exist, let alone that\nthere is a demand for them. I\u2019d suggest that women who are already in our\nindustry need to work diligently to help educate the next generation of\naviation professionals about the diverse range of careers that exist and engage\nthem early to attract them into our industry,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Background: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stephanie earned the 2016 NASAO Chairman\u2019s Award for her many contributions to the organization and aviation industry. Presented by Gary Cathey, then NASAO Chair and former CALTRANS Aviation Director. SAJ Photo.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Stephanie Ward is a life-long learner.\nAfter earning her B.S. in Urban Planning, she continued her studies to earn a\nM.S. in Parks and Recreation Resources, with emphasis in Tourism Planning. She\nis an active member of the American Planning Association and holds American\nInstitute of Certified Planners (AICP) status, which is the planning equivalent\nof a Professional Engineer PE. Very few women hold this nationwide\ncertification, even today. Ward serves on the NASAO Center for Aviation\nResearch and Education Board. The depth of her commitment to our aviation\nindustry and building for the future includes the following: Western Michigan\nUniversity College of Aviation Professor (teaching airport planning on an\nannual basis), member #21 of Women in Aviation International, member WAI Great\nLakes Chapter (participating in Girls Day in Aviation and Women\u2019s Aviation\nCareer Symposium). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait, Stephanie does even more! She\nleads the Michigan Association of Airport Executives (MAAE) Michigan Aviation\nProfessionals Training Course, aka Airports 101, held annually to educate new\nairport managers, and airport board members about key management and\noperational issues for airports. She is heavily involved in both the\nTransportation Research Board (TRB), serving on TRB Subcommittee on Aviation\nSystems Planning (AV020). On the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP),\nshe serves as the principal investigator on 12 projects, as a subject matter\nexpert on seven projects, and a project panel member on three projects. Stephanie\nWard makes every minute count. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Series by Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. How did you first get inspired to work in the aviation industry? Growing up in the age of NASA and the astronauts, Stephanie thought one day she would be in orbit. \u201cIn high school, I aspired to be an astronaut. I was told I\u2019d have a greater chance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stephanie-in-Hangar.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22876","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=22876"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22886,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22876\/revisions\/22886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}