Oris Dunham, Mark Brewer, Elaine Roberts, McFarland Johnson, AirIT Honored By AAAE
Alexandria, VA - Airport industry leaders Oris Dunham, Mark Brewer and Elaine Roberts were honored with the prestigious Chair's Award and Distinguished Service Awards, respectively, at the recently completed American Association of Airport Executives 87th Annual Conference and Exposition in Philadelphia. AAAE Corporate partners McFarland Johnson and AirIT also received important awards during the conference.
Established in 1954, the AAAE Chair's Award is given to an individual for outstanding contributions to the airport management profession and to AAAE. Dunham, who was presented the award by outgoing AAAE Chair Randall D. Berg, A.A.E., currently serves as Managing Director of the Dunham Group, L.L.C. Over his distinguished career in aviation, Dunham served in leadership capacities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the Los Angeles Department of Airports and Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. He has long been an active member of AAAE and currently serves as Chair of the AAAE Foundation. The AAAE Foundation is one of the largest supporters of higher education in aviation and has awarded more than 2,200 scholarships in excess of $3.5 million to date.
Outgoing Chair Berg also announced the 2015-16 winners of the Distinguished Service Award at the annual conference. Mark Brewer, A.A.E., Airport Director at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, was selected to receive the 2015 Distinguished Service Award by the Airport Research and Development Foundation (ARDF), and Elaine Roberts, A.A.E., President and CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority was selected to receive the 2016 Distinguished Service Award.
The Distinguished Service Award, given annually, is one of AAAE's highest levels of recognition. Men and women receive this award as a reflection of outstanding accomplishments in their professional and personal lives. Respected leaders of their own communities, these men and women also contribute to other aviation organizations, serve AAAE and its chapters and participate in civic and community affairs. Distinguished Service Award winners exemplify the best in airport management by continually bringing credit to the profession and the aviation community. All DSA winners are Accredited Airport Executives (A.A.E.) and exemplify the standards accreditation seeks to inspire.
The 2015 AAAE Corporate Cup award for small business excellence was presented at the conference to McFarland Johnson, a planning, design and construction company. AirIT, an information service company that operates in 30 of the 50 top airports in North America, won the Corporate Cup for a medium-sized company.
More than 1,700 aviation industry leaders, representing more than 250 airports, attended the 87th Annual AAAE Conference and Exposition. The 88th Annual AAAE Conference and Exposition will be held May 15-18, 2016, in Houston, Texas.
