Southeastern professor to be inducted into Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame

November 19, 2008

DURANT, Okla. -- Richard "Dick" Russell, Assistant Professor in Southeastern Oklahoma State University’s Aviation Sciences Institute, will be inducted into the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame on Jan. 29, 2009.

The induction ceremony will be held during the banquet of the Nebraska Aviation Symposium at the Kearney Holiday Inn, Kearney, Neb.

Russell, CMS, USAF (retired) has been associated with aviation for more than 47 years as a pilot, flight instructor and Air Force flight crewmen examiner/instructor with more than 19,000 flight hours.

He is also a retired police officer and has served as adjunct faculty at numerous colleges and universities, including Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, for more than 20 years.

He holds numerous FAA ratings that include helicopters, gliders and seaplanes. He has been associated with several generals as their Senior Enlisted Advisor or Chief NCO, and also served as advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

He was a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Cadet 1955-60 and is a retired Air Force Command Chief. He served nine tours in Southeast Asia and Vietnam and was certified as a private pilot in 1969. Russell owns and flies antique airplanes and has logged more than 21,650 accident-free flight hours.

Russell started his Southeastern career as an adjunct in March 2007 and became a full-time tenure-track faculty member in Oct. 2007. He is now an Assistant Professor of Aviation and teaches at SE facilities at the Oklahoma City Community College and Tinker Air Force Base.