From barking orders to guiding students: The pioneering Lewis A. Jackson

Credit: Journal Herald archives

Credit: Journal Herald archives

Lewis A. Jackson began his aviation passion while constructing model airplanes and reading about crosswinds in encyclopedias as a boy in Indiana.

>> From 1994: Tribute honors aviation pioneer, educator

From there, his pioneering path in the skies drove him to success in multiple fields. From 1940-45, he served as director of training at the Army Air Corps 66th Flight Training Detachment in Tuskegee, Ala. There, he guided some of the Army's most impressive pilots.

He later earned a Master's degree at Miami University in Oxford and a Ph.D. from Ohio State and began an educational career that saw him become president of Central State University. He was also vice president for student services at Sinclair Community College, as well as acting president of the college for a time.

Jackson also served on the Greene County Regional Airport Authority and the Xenia Area Development Corp.’s board of directors during a life that earned him the honor of his name on Greene County's Lewis A. Jackson Regional Airport.

Celebrate Jackson and others like him with a special presentation on black aviation pioneers from southwest Ohio on MyDaytonDailyNews.com.

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