AIAA Foundation Selected to Receive $1 Million from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future Written 14 July 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pictured: Blue Origin New Shepard launch. | Credit: Blue Origin–©
July 14, 2021 – Reston, Va. – Today, AIAA Foundation was selected to receive a $1 million grant from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future. This generous grant will allow the AIAA Foundation to fuel the next generation of space professionals who will create our off-world future. The AIAA Foundation will engage students and educators with new, innovative, and creative STEM education opportunities, as well as expand the robust K-12 and university programs we have enabled for the last 25 years.
“Our recent auction for the first seat on New Shepard resulted in a donation of $28 million to our non-profit foundation, Club for the Future,” said Bob Smith, Blue Origin CEO. “This donation is enabling Club for the Future to rapidly expand its reach by partnering with 19 organizations to develop and inspire the next generation of space professionals. Our generation will build the road to space and these efforts will ensure the next generation is ready to go even further.”
“The AIAA Foundation is honored to receive a $1 million grant from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future,” said John Langford, chair, AIAA Foundation. “This is a perfect example of what we mean when we talk about paying it forward. We are excited by the momentum they have created with these generous donations. Congratulations to all the partner organizations! We applaud Blue Origin’s dedication to igniting student’s imaginations as they help usher in a new era of commercial spaceflight for space tourists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses. This gift allows the AIAA Foundation to multiply our impact on young hearts and minds who see space as more than a dream – rather, a place where they will live, work, and play. We can’t wait to see how the students we reach together will lead space innovation in the 21st century!”
“On behalf of the 30,000 professional, student, and corporate members of AIAA, we are thrilled to receive this generous grant from Blue Origin’s Club for the Future,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA Executive Director. “We are energized at AIAA about this opportunity to impact today’s students – who will make up the teams – who will become the most technically proficient, professionally equipped, and culturally diverse workforce on the planet. Our STEM education programs focus on outreach to students of all backgrounds, especially from underserved and underrepresented groups, helping ensure space is available for all. Today’s students will tackle tomorrow’s challenges of living and working in low Earth orbit, on the moon, and beyond. Our off-world future is looking bright!”
About Club for the Future
Founded by Blue Origin in 2019, Club for the Future is a nonprofit foundation whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space. The Club and its collaborators are doing this through Postcards to Space, space-focused curriculum, and access to space on Blue Origin’s rockets. For more information visit, ClubforFuture.org.
About Blue Origin
Blue Origin was founded by Jeff Bezos with the vision of enabling a future where millions of people are living and working in space to benefit Earth. To preserve Earth, Blue Origin believes that humanity will need to expand, explore, find new energy and material resources, and move industries that stress Earth into space. On July 20, Blue Origin will fly its first astronaut crew on board New Shepard to space and back. To watch the launch live on July 20 or sign up for updates visit BlueOrigin.com.
About AIAA Foundation
The AIAA Foundation inspires and supports the next generation of aerospace professionals. From classroom to career, the AIAA Foundation enables innovative K-12 and university programming, including STEM classroom grants, scholarships, conferences, and hands-on competitions. Founded in 1996, the AIAA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational organization connected to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, RebeccaG@AIAA.org, 804-397-5270 cell