What began as an airmail company in 1926 in Ohio, with its roots in military training, and is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year? If you said Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), well, you probably matriculated there, as one of more than 120,000 alumni of the school. The little airmail company has progressively expanded into a worldwide university and research institution offering upwards of 80 degree programs on two residential campuses and more than 125 satellite locations around the globe. ERAU graduates are pilots, engineers, air traffic controllers, mechanics, meteorologists, military and industry leaders and astronauts.

The school delved into the helicopter flight training industry in 1978 when it branched out west, purchasing its Prescott, Ariz. campus.

“The university’s first president, Jack Hunt, knew we needed more room for training, and was looking out west,” ERAU Prescott campus chancellor Dr. Frank Ayers told AIN. “The ERAU campus had a minor in helicopters, but six years ago director of flight training Jerry Kidrick and I decided to make it a major. We thought that we’d bring in a contractor to do the training. In January 2010 we signed a contract with Universal Helicopters [UHI] to provide flight training to our helicopter majors,” he explained.

In the beginning ERAU trained plenty of U.S. military veterans. With the change in the way veterans benefits are handled for helicopter training, the school adapted, and now those with VA benefits are enrolled at Dodge City Community College, and do their training as “guest students” of ERAU, according to Ayers. Veterans eligible for the Post-9-11 G.I. Bill, Yellow Ribbon program and the Montgomery G.I. Bill can enroll in a two-year associates degree program through Dodge City Community College and fly the helicopters through the ERAU partnership to earn their private, commercial, instrument, flight instructor and flight instructor instrument-helicopter certificates and ratings.

“We have really high placement rates, and this leads to great careers,” he said. “Most students graduate to become instructors for UHI, then do turbine transition and sightseeing, moving on to oil rig flying and aeromedical transport. Helicopters are the only way to get you to the hospital in time to save your life out west, where distances are vast. It is often the only choice.”

Last year was filled with milestones, according to Ayers, with expansion at the university’s two residential campuses in Florida and Arizona as well as the groundbreaking for a high-tech research park at ERAU’s Daytona Beach campus. The school has a rapidly growing Singapore campus and new educational partnerships in South America and Australia as well. Ayers was proud to note that a return on investment PayScale ranking of more than 1,000 public and private colleges and universities in the U.S. put ERAU’s Prescott campus as No. 1 and the Daytona Beach campus at No. 2 in the category of Best Value Colleges.

Ayers was proud to host the start to the 90th anniversary for the university this past October, at the school’s OctoberWest homecoming event.

The celebration went on the road with the school’s restored 1928 Waco biplane used in the school’s early days for flight training and air mail delivery. It will culminate at Daytona Beach October 8-9 with Embry-Riddle’s Wings & Waves Air Show. Scheduled performers include the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, the Canadian Forces Snowbirds and several civilian performers. The show is free and open to the public.