FedEx Pledges $6.5M for Kent State Aeronautics Academic Center

FedEx Corp. has pledged $5 million, in addition to $1.5 million already given, for a total of $6.5 million in support of the aeronautics academic center at the Kent State University Airport in Stow, Ohio. The 17,800-square-foot FedEx Aeronautics Academic Center was unveiled during a grand-opening event in September 2019.

Kent State’s Aeronautics Program, which is accredited by theAviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), has the largest collegiateaircraft fleet in the state, a university-managed airport and an Air TrafficControl Laboratory. The program is an authorized Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) examining authority and testing center while regularlywinning safety awards. Kent State’s College of Aeronautics and Engineeringattracts students from around the globe to participate in flight training andKent State’s Precision Flight Team.

Kent State’s new academic center houses collaborativespaces, classrooms, briefing rooms, simulator rooms, and faculty and staffoffices. It provides rooms for current and additional courses and, mostimportantly, will allow for growth in the program’s enrollment, which has grown55% since 2010.

The new facility will increase the program’s capacity to enroll students to meet the growing demand for pilots, which the Boeing Co. predicts will require 617,000 new pilots worldwide by 2035. The FedEx Aeronautics Academic Center will provide 21st-century facilities and space to graduate aviation professionals able to fulfill flight requirements and to enter the workforce quickly and well prepared.

“There is a great deal of excitement around the new facilityamongst our faculty, students and prospective students who recognize that theFedEx Aeronautics Academic Center will help facilitate a top-tier, interactiveeducation that will further elevate the caliber of aeronautics professionalsthat Kent State delivers to the workforce,” said Christina Bloebaum, dean ofthe College of Aeronautics and Engineering at Kent State. “This facility willbe the focal point of our Aeronautics Program’s future growth, and we are veryappreciative of the FedEx vision to support the development of prepared,confident aeronautics graduates.”