AIAA Mourns the Death of William E. Boeing, Jr.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) mourns the passing of William E. Boeing Jr., real estate developer, philanthropist, former board member of the Seattle Museum of Flight, and son of The Boeing Company’s founder William E. Boeing. He was 92 years old.
“William E. Boeing Jr., was instrumental in preserving significant parts of our nation’s rich aerospace history, especially the iconic Red Barn that was the original site of The Boeing Company,” said AIAA President Jim Albaugh, former president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and vice president of The Boeing Company. “We mourn his loss, and will miss his boundless enthusiasm, both for the preservation of our community’s past as well as his work with the Seattle Museum of Flight on educating and inspiring children to join our community to help shape the future of aerospace.”
Boeing’s efforts were largely responsible for the preservation of the iconic Red Barn, where The Boeing Company began in 1917. It is the oldest aircraft manufacturing site in the U.S., and it is now part of the collection of the Seattle Museum of Flight.
In addition to his work in aerospace-related historic preservation, he was an especially strong advocate for educating children about aerospace. In a 1992 interview with Boeing’s internal magazine he stated, “Education is the key thing, it’s fun to see young people come to places like the Museum of Flight and see their faces light up and know that one day designing, building or flying airplanes might be their job.”
In 2010, AIAA presented Boeing a Certificate of Appreciation for his “lifelong role in aviation, his dedicated support to education, and his significant commitment to the preservation of air and space history.”
ABOUT AIAA
AIAA is the largest aerospace professional society in the world, serving a diverse range of more than 35,000 individual members from 80 countries, and 100 corporate members. AIAA members help make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.
