National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen was inducted last evening into the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s International Air & Space Hall of Fame, in recognition of his decades of contributions to the aviation and aerospace industry.
“It is an enormous privilege to be part of the aviation community, and to be inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor beyond description,” Bolen said.
In welcoming Bolen’s induction, James G. Kidrick, San Diego Air & Space Museum president and chief executive officer stated: “The International Air & Space Hall of Fame represents those elite leaders and organizations, which have made lasting contributions regarding aviation and space; and who will be remembered as visionaries and risk-takers, pioneers unwilling to live with the status quo knowing there can be better and more innovative solutions to even the most complex challenges. Ed Bolen is one of those!”
Bolen has led NBAA since 2004, and prior to joining the organization he was president and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) for eight years. Bolen joined GAMA in 1995 as senior vice president and general counsel; GAMA’s board of directors elected him president and CEO in November 1996.
In 2001, Bolen was appointed by President Bush to serve as a member of the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. He was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member of the Management Advisory Council to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He chaired the council from 2000 to 2004.
Bolen is a member of the board of directors of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), and he serves on the Aviation Advisory Board of the Mitre Corporation, a federally funded research and development corporation. He is also a former chair of RTCA and member of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
In addition to Bolen, the 2021 inductees include: Space Shuttle Commander Eileen Collins; astronaut Charlie Duke; Federal Express (company founder and CEO Fred Smith accepted the award); former President and Executive Vice President of the Aerospace Group General Dynamics Corp. Bryan Moss; Dee O’Hara, the first aerospace nurse assigned to NASA’s first seven astronauts; and the Commemorative Air Force.