AAR CEO David P. Storch Receives Leroy Grumman Award from Cradle of Aviation

Long Island museum honors aerospace industry leader alongside Apollo 16 astronaut

GARDEN CITY, New York, October 28, 2016 – David P. Storch, Chairman, President and CEO of AAR Corp., a leading provider of aviation aftermarket services to the world’s airlines and government, received the 2016 Leroy R. Grumman Award for Technical Achievement on October 27 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center’s 14^th annual Air & Space Gala in Garden City, New York.

The museum, which celebrates Long Island’s vital role in aviation progress, recognized Storch for AAR’s contributions to commercial and military flight around the globe, and for his visionary support of the region’s flourishing STEM Magnet School on the Cradle’s campus.

Each year through that program, about 100 high school students in Westbury Union Free School District spend half of their day at the Cradle’s campus for enrichment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through a partnership with AAR’s aircraft component repair facility in Garden City, the students also have shadowed AAR workers, landed internships and received career counseling.

About 70 percent of the students in the program major in STEM subjects in college, well above the national average. In addition to lending corporate support, Storch, who graduated from Westbury schools, serves as a powerful role model for the students, many of whom are from underserved communities.

"The Cradle of Aviation Museum is thrilled to honor David Storch and AAR for their ongoing support of the museum's education and preservation efforts,” said Andrew Parton, Executive Director of the Cradle of Aviation Museum.“It's leaders like David who help us create the next generation of engineers, scientists, pilots and astronauts.”

Storch said he was honored to be chosen for the award and to meet Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke, who received the Cradle’s Spirit of Discovery Award at the gala.

“Growing up on Long Island, which was an early hub for aviation excellence, I was fascinated with flight,” Storch said. “Now, as the leader of AAR, I am excited to partner with the Cradle of Aviation museum as it helps enlighten today’s young people about opportunities in the industry, which may help develop the aviation enthusiasts of the future.”

About the Cradle of Aviation

The Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center sits on land once part of Mitchel Air Force Base which, together with nearby Roosevelt Field and other airfields on the Hempstead Plains, was the site of many historic flights. In fact, so many seminal flights occurred in the area that, by the mid-1920s, the cluster of airfields was already dubbed the “Cradle of Aviation.” The museum originally opened with just a handful of aircraft in the un-restored hangars in 1980. A major renovation and expansion program in the late 1990s allowed the museum to reopen in a state-of-the-art facility in 2002. More information can be found at www.cradleofaviation.org.

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