Published December 2004

Embry-Riddle gains
greater visibility

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Everett’s Applied Technology Training Center, a classroom facility operated by Everett and Edmonds community colleges, is now home to one of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s newest U.S. campuses.

The Florida-based university has spent more than five years developing a presence in the Snohomish County area, first serving nearby Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, then moving into various temporary quarters with assistance from Goodrich, Boeing and other supporters.

Earlier this year, the school moved into its first spacious, publicly visible location, the ATTC site close to Fluke Corp., the Boeing Co., Goodrich Corp., Paine Field and Naval Station Everett.

A large community of military, aerospace and high-tech employers is the kind of synergistic site the university looks for, since its courses are designed primarily for working professionals in aviation and high-tech fields.

Across America and Europe, Embry-Riddle has more than 130 extended campuses in addition to its main Daytona Beach, Fla., campus and a satellite campus in Phoenix, Ariz.

Each year, more than 28,000 students are enrolled in the university’s 35 associate, bachelor and master’s degree programs, including aeronautical science, aircraft maintenance, aerospace engineering, aviation technology, airport management, meteorology, global security and aviation business administration.

“With real visibility for the first time, more people are calling and enrolling,” said Elena Lynch, director of operations for the university’s Everett center. “We’re close to Boeing, and we’re doing much more marketing, hosting events and reaching out to local high schools, the YMCA’s Minority Achievers Program and the local aerospace community.”

“We have both undergraduate and graduate programs for aeronautical science, technical management and other aeronautical degrees, plus associate programs in aviation and technology areas,” Lynch said. “The focus is aviation, of course, but we have people studying for all kinds of careers.”

Lynch was rewarded recently for her work in establishing and growing the Embry-Riddle presence in Snohomish and Island counties, receiving a promotion to the Daytona Beach headquarters as associate dean of worldwide operations for the extended-campus program. Her replacement, Melissa Helmensteine, arrived at the Everett campus early in November, having served with Everett Community College’s work-force development program and as director of programs for the Waterhouse Center in Monroe, a motivation center.

“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to expand the program and take it in new directions,” she said. “We couldn’t have picked a better place, being so close to Boeing, Fluke and others that we are developing partnerships with so we can offer education opportunities to their employees.”

The history of Embry-Riddle began Dec. 17, 1925, exactly 22 years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, when entrepreneur T. Higbee Embry and barnstormer John P. Riddle formed an independent university that has become the world’s leading institution for people seeking to enter or advance in careers in aviation, aerospace, engineering and related fields.

Today, it’s the world’s only accredited aviation-oriented university. U.S. News & World Report’s 2005 “Best Colleges” guide named Embry-Riddle first among aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering schools without doctorate programs. Within a year of graduation, 96 percent of Embry-Riddle students are either employed or have decided to continue their education. Women make up 17 percent of the school’s total enrollment, according to school officials.

More information about Embry-Riddle is available on the Internet at www.erau.edu or by writing to the university’s administrative offices at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32114.

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