Nov. 14, 2005
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Internationally known
parachuting champion Cheryl Stearns will jump
into action as a guest lecturer for Wittenberg
’s management department and School of Community
Education (SCE), Nov. 14-15.
Stearns will speak to adult and non-traditional
SCE students in a leadership class, taught by
Elma Moore, director of the Adult Leadership Program
for SCE, on Monday. She will also speak to organizational
behavior classes on Tuesday about leadership skills.
Asked to come to Wittenberg by SCE student and
management major Yuvonda Wells of Springfield,
Ohio, Stearns will discuss the challenges and
risks she has taken in her career.
“I admire her as a leader,” Wells
said. “She never gives up. She has also
persevered in an industry that is predominately
male, and she makes the impossible seem possible.”
Stearns holds 30 world records in parachuting
and has been the United States women’s parachuting
champion 21 times. She also holds the Guinness
World Record for the most parachute jumps (352)
by a woman in 24 hours. After joining the Army
in 1977, Stearns became the first female member
of the Golden Knights, an elite parachute team.
As a pilot for US Airways, Stearns serves as a
first officer in the Boeing 757/767. She also
leads Project StratoQuest with a professional
team of experts who are conducting research on
the physiological effects of high-altitude freefall.
Recently, Stearns received a special Federation
Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) Centenary award
in Paris, where she was honored for her contributions
to the development of air sports and aviation
along with Buzz Aldrin, Steve Fossett and Bertrand
Piccard.
- Sarah Gearhart '06
