Who in Prescott could have imagined in the mid-1970s what was then a deserted 511-acre piece of land on the northern edge of the Prescott city limits would 38 years later be known as the home of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott, known internationally as a worldwide leader in aerospace and aviation education?
One man did. He lobbied vigorously to persuade local and state officials to work with the board of trustees from the ERAU home campus in Daytona Beach, Florida, to buy the land from then bankrupt Prescott College and create a western campus.
John Olsen, now 92 years old but still vigorously committed to ERAU and its mission, received a standing ovation from administrators, faculty, students and a crowd of thousands during commencement ceremonies Dec. 12.
ERAU interim president John Watret, Ph.D., and ERAU chancellor Frank Ayers, Ph.D., of the Prescott campus, introduced Olsen to the crowd, saying, “Because of this man and his vision, persistence and commitment, the western campus of ERAU became a reality.”
It was noted that the university has grown from a handful of faculty and 264 students in 1978 to a prestigious university with more than 350 employees and almost 2,300 students today.
Earlier, just prior to commencement ceremonies, Ambassador Barbara Barrett, who served as a member of the ERAU board for nearly a decade, spotted Olsen in the crowd and rushed up to him with outstretched arms and a warm hug.
Smiling at him, she said, “John, you’re the reason I’m here as the commencement speaker. Without your vision and leadership, this university would not have happened in Prescott.”
Barrett, who earned three degrees from Arizona State University, is currently the Chairman of the Board for the Aerospace Corporation. She is the former Ambassador to Finland, is an instrument-rated pilot who trained to be an astronaut, and was the first civilian to land an F/A-18 on an aircraft carrier.
Olsen recalled that years ago, he was fortunate to fly her around Yavapai County, especially Sedona, when he was pushing to get ERAU board members to open the Prescott campus.
An Arizona resident for 64 years, Olsen, an honorably discharged Navy veteran during World War II, was convinced that Prescott and Yavapai County were “…ideal for flying and flight training,” he said.
Olsen still remains on the ERAU-Prescott board of visitors.
Before retiring, Olsen and his family were ranchers-farmers in Chino Valley until they founded Olsen’s Grains, which now has grown to a multi-million dollar business with stores in Prescott, Chino Valley, Dewey, Clarkdale and Flagstaff. QCBN
By Ray Newton, QCBN