AIAA Statement on Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher Written 2 June 2020
June 2, 2020 – Reston, Va. – This is a difficult and challenging time for citizens of the United States, as well as the global community. We are all dealing with a pandemic on a scale not seen for at least a century; we also are dealing with factions of our society unwilling to see the value of others, specifically African Americans, and anyone who looks different from them.
In the aerospace industry we work at the edge of the laws of physics. We are building aircraft that go higher, fly faster, carry more people, all while working to reduce the environmental impact. We are building spacecraft that go beyond our solar system, exploring the planets and asteroids, learning to live and work in space, commercializing low Earth orbit, and building rockets and spacecraft to take humans to the moon, Mars, and hopefully beyond. To solve these tough problems, we need fresh ideas and diverse points of view.
As a society, we can’t continue to do what we have always done, wandering down the same well-trodden pathways, left to wonder why things haven’t improved. We need to make the ultimate pivot and adopt a new approach that has us supporting, investing, and growing the untapped capacities and potential of African Americans and other underrepresented communities. We must bring those views, those perspectives, and those talents to address some of our most vexing challenges. Now is the time to become an inclusive and dynamic community at an historic moment in our nation’s history.
The aerospace community must lead. Diversity, inclusion, and acceptance are prime objectives for the Institute.
AIAA is working every day to increase the diversity of the aerospace workforce. We’re reaching out to K-12 students with STEM lessons, hosting Diversity Scholars at our forums, working to build a diverse speaking lineup for our events and activities, and collaborating with our local sections and student branches to assure the long-term sustainability of our industry. We know we have a long way to go. The aerospace community simply does not yet reflect society in terms of race and gender.
Aerospace helps shape the future of society in building and operating the aircraft, defense systems, and space systems needed for ALL of our economic futures, and the protection of our freedoms. And I promise, that while we have made some gains, we are just getting started.
The Human Genome Project in 2003 taught us that 99.9 percent of the human genetic code is the SAME for all humans. We must ALL work together so that those not typically seen participating in our challenging industry have the opportunity, and young people see themselves with a future.
Media contact: Michele McDonald, michelem@aiaa.org, 703.264.7542
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.