Thomas Q. Carney

Thomas Carney has had his head in the clouds for more than four decades. And he loves it that way. Currently a professor of aviation technology at Purdue, Carney has 11,000 flight hours to his name. As the pilot-in-command and training captain at the Purdue University Airport, his passenger list reads like a Who's Who for the last half century -- from President Jimmy Carter and the Dalai Lama to William F. Buckley, Toni Morrison and Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first and last astronauts to walk on the moon. Every Purdue president -- from Frederick L. Hovde, when Carney was a young co-pilot, to France A. Cordova. All since 1970. What a thrill, he says. But the true reward, in addition to flying, has been advancing research in aviation technology and atmospheric science, including aviation meteorology and the impact of weather on aviation operations, synoptic-scale dynamics and energetics, and the interactions between synoptic and mesoscale motion fields. The author of more than 100 publications and presentations, Carney was mentored during his early Purdue days by greats such as Dayton Vincent, Phil Smith, Ernie Agee and Bob Dale. Returning the favor, as a professor Carney has had the privilege to teach and mentor many outstanding and gifted young men and women in aviation technology.