Scholarships and Awards

The deadline for Foundation scholarship applications is April 1st.

Ed Allen Memorial Aviation Scholarship

ELIGIBILITY

A student must meet the following criteria:

• Full-time student at Middle Georgia College
• Current enrollment in any aviation related degree or certificate program at the Georgia Aviation Campus
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress as set forth in the student handbook and maintain a minimum overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 at Middle Georgia College
• Must have completed a semester of program specific courses
• Demonstrate an extraordinary grasp of the technical field of study through academic performance and hands-on proficiency as demonstrated by a minimum program GPA of 3.5
• Demonstrate a strong work ethic and sense of professional responsibility as indicated by your overall work ethic assessment

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

A student must submit the following by the published deadline to be considered:

• A completed application for the Ed Allen Memorial Aviation Scholarship
• A personal resume (typed)
• An unofficial transcript from Warrior Web

Ed Allen Memorial Aviation Scholarship Application

History

Gene Edison "Ed" Allen was born November 30, 1937, in Eastman, Georgia, to L.J. and Nellie Allen. He graduated from Eastman High School and Berry College in Rome, Georgia.

Ed was first attracted to airplanes and the people who flew and maintained them as a young man. After graduating from college, he decided to pursue his professional career in the sky; first as a pilot in the United States Air Force where he commanded the world's most sophisticated tanker aircraft, the venerable Boeing KC-135; and later as a pilot with Pan American World Airways, which at that time was the flag carrier of the United States and was widely respected as the world's leading airline. While at Pan Am, Ed learned of the new aviation venture which Pan Am was initiating with the famed French airplane manufacturer, Marcel Dassault-Breguet Aviation. This new venture, called Pan Am Business Jets Division, eventually evolved into Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., when Pan Am sold its interest to Dassault in 1981.

During the 1960's, the men leading these two aviation giants, Juan Trippe and Marcel Dassault, jointly agreed that the worldwide marketplace, particularly in the United States, was ready for a new brand of aircraft, namely small, fast jet airplanes that could be used by corporations and governments throughout the world to provide safe, dependable transportation to airports which were not accessible to the larger air carrier aircraft. Together with Charles Lindbergh (whom Ed met several times), they selected the name "Falcon" as the trademark which would be used to identify the aircraft which were built in France by Dassault and sold in the western hemisphere by Pan Am. When Ed learned of this new opportunity, he jumped at the chance to become part of the Falcon team. He quickly established himself as a leader in the small group of pioneers who took on the challenge of starting an entirely new business "from scratch" and selling an entirely new concept to the traveling public-"business aviation".

Ed was not only an outstanding pilot, but he also excelled as a manager and organizer of people. For that reason, he was selected to lead the Falcon Flight Operations as Chief Pilot and later as Director of Falcon's entire aviation department. In this role, Ed nurtured a team of men and women who, through hard work and dedication, have earned a rich reputation as the finest flight demonstration team in the world. Ed was the holder of 15 world speed records in various Falcon models and had flown over 14,000 hours as pilot in command. His life ended on April 25, 2001.

This scholarship was created in 2003 by Mr. Allen's friends and fellow employees at Dassault Falcon Jet Corp. in his memory, to benefit aviation students at Georgia Aviation Technical College. It is administered by the Georgia Aviation and Technical College Foundation, Inc.