Women in Aviation International (WAI) has selected the 2020 inductees for its International Pioneer Hall of Fame. These women will be honored at the 31st Annual International Women in Aviation Conference, which will be held Mar. 5-7, 2020, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The induction ceremony will take place on, Mar. 7, 2020, prior to the conference’s closing Celebration Dinner. The 2020 Pioneer Hall of Fame inductees are:
Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt is the commander, Air Force Recruiting Service, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, and made history as the service’s first female fighter pilot. In 2016, she became the first woman to head the 57 Wing at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and in June 2018 she took over Air Force recruiting. Her Air Force career has spanned more than 25 years, and Gen. Leavitt has flown more than 3,000 hours to include 300 hours of combat flight with operational experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, including in Operation Southern Watch, Northern Watch, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom.
Patricia “Patty” Jean Wagner is an airshow legend, multi-rated pilot, and a devoted WAI volunteer. In 2019, Patty received the FAA Master Pilot Award for demonstrating professionalism, skill, and aviation expertise for 50 years. With her husband, Bob, Patty started an airshow wing-riding act called A Girl on the Wing. Six years after that first flight, the couple decided to go on the airshow circuit full-time, and have flown in all 50 states and performed in 47 states, as well as British Columbia, Quebec, every Canadian province in between, and in South America.
