First Government Official to Receive the Award
Airports Council
International - North America (ACI-NA) has just presented DoT
Secretary Norman Y. Mineta with the ACI-NA Lifetime Achievement
Award. This marks the first time the award has been presented to a
government official. Secretary Mineta will be honored with the
award during the Leadership Reception being held tonight in
conjunction with the ACI-NA/AAAE Spring Washington Conference.
"Secretary Mineta has given airports tremendous support during
the most challenging times in aviation history," said David Z.
Plavin, president of ACI-NA. "His contributions have spanned a
period of more than 25 years from his days in Congress to his
current position as a cabinet secretary. We are grateful for his
constant attention and unwavering support."
Recognizing his efforts on behalf of airports and the industry,
Kent George, ACI-NA Chairman and Executive Director of Pittsburgh
International Airport, and Mike Gibbons, Chairman of the ACI-NA
Commissioners Committee from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
International Airport, will present the award to Secretary
Mineta.
Mineta became the 14th U.S. Secretary of Transportation on Jan.
25, 2001. He became the first Asian-American Cabinet member during
the Clinton administration, and the first Cabinet member to switch
directly from a Democratic to a Republican Cabinet. In December
2004, Secretary Mineta accepted President Bush's invitation to
continue his service in the Cabinet during the President's second
term. As Secretary of Transportation, he oversees an agency with
almost 60,000 employees and a $61.6 billion budget.
In addition to honoring
Secretary Mineta, ACI-NA will also recognize three outstanding
college students who were recently named finalists in the 2004
ACI-NA Airport Commissioner's Scholarship competition. Anthony
McMichael will graduate in December with a degree in Aerospace
Administration from Indiana State University. McMichael is the
current AAAE student chapter president and his work experience
includes an internship at the Indiana Department of
Transportation.
Leigh Hedrick will graduate from the University of Nebraska at
Omaha in the spring of 2006. Hedrick is majoring in aviation
administration and hopes to pursue a career as an airport
administrator and has worked at Omaha's Eppley Airfield since July
2001.
Clinton Torp will graduate this spring with a degree in aviation
from the University of North Dakota. He is an active AAAE Chapter
Member and has interned at the Owatonna Regional airport. Torp
works at the Devils Lake Municipal Airport.
Airports Council International - North America represents local,
regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial
airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports
enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the
international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America.
Over 300 aviation-related businesses are also members of the
association, which is the largest of the six worldwide regions of
Airports Council International.