From the Editor
Join us at 7 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday, April 9 for Lift, Off the Page. Moderated by Marc Bernier, director of the Embry-Riddle Speaker Series, our panel of alumni and faculty space industry experts will take a deeper dive into the spring 2018 Lift topic: The Commercial Space Race. Attend the discussion in person or watch the live stream. For details and to register, visit alumni.erau.edu/LiftTalks.
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—Sara Withrow, Editor
Honoring a Friend and Mentor
In Memoriam [Page 37, fall 2017] lists Robert Wayne Harsha as “Former WW Adjunct Faculty.” While he held that very important position at the Worldwide Campus, he was much more than that in a career that spanned 27 years with Embry-Riddle. Wayne was a full-time associate professor in the Embry-Riddle Worldwide College of Business. He served at various times in a distinguished career as a regional faculty adviser, chair for the Master of Science in Technical Management and Master of Science in Management programs, and chair of the leadership department. Above all, he was a friend, mentor and encourager to numerous Embry-Riddle students, faculty members and administrators, including myself.
Dr. Eugene L. Round
Professor Emeritus
College of Arts and Sciences
Embry-Riddle Worldwide Campus
Remembering Dick Samuels
Comments posted on Lift online in response to The Father of Flight Instructors [fall 2017].
Exciting News
I can’t think of a more deserving honor. I never had the chance to have Dick Samuels as a “direct” instructor, but I learned from him just by passing him in the stairs. He would ask me little things, and after calling me a “Dummy,” he would give me some line of thought that I carried with me until his insight — BAM! — hit me like a revelation. Later, long after leaving Prescott and becoming an instructor, his words guided my teaching style … I caught myself many times repeating those one-liners he gave me.
“When flying you always reach for perfection, even though you know you’ll never get there, but you keep trying … ”
YES, SIR … thank you, may I have another…
Edgar M. Mora (’88, PC)
B.S. Aeronautical Science
Perfect Landing
Because of Dick, my landings straddle the centerline stripe every landing in the jet, a turboprop, a recip twin or a single. Twenty-four years later, I still hear in my mind’s ear, “Land STRAIGHT and land on the $&@?!#% CENTERLINE, GOT IT?!!!!” Yep, I’ve always listened to everything Dick taught me and still do it to this day.
Dick, you always motivated me to fly better, fly tighter, fly like my life depended on it. You were the guy I wanted to be when I grew up someday and became a pilot. You mean the world to all of us, and I’m grateful for all you taught me along the way.
The best darn thing I did in life, next to marrying my best friend, April, and having two amazing boys, was attending Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus and learning from the best. You, Sean, Dave Roy and the countless others are why I was able to become a successful pilot who did not give up on his dream to fly after I got the flight bug.
Bob Lenhard (’97, PC)
B.S. Aeronautical Science
The Honor is Mine
“… Samuels says he is ‘extremely honored’ by his students’ gesture.”
I am extremely honored to have learned from him — some of my best memories and strongest fundamentals were built with him. I know so many pilots who would say the same.
Tara Green (’94, PC)
B.S. Aeronautical Science
Editor’s Clarification
The article, Aerial Precision [fall 2017], failed to mention that Rene Brana (’05, DB) was also a founding member of Aerial Applications.