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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2000
MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Dierksmeier, (703)726-8304, ldierks@va.gwu.edu
WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has selected The George Washington University to house its new investigation training academy. The announcement was made today by NTSB Acting Chairman Jim Hall. The facility, to be located at the University's Virginia Campus in Loudoun County, will include a 20-year lease for classrooms, laboratories, space for accident reconstructions and other equipment to be used in training accident investigations. "This research center will be an extension of our long-term partnership with the NTSB," said Irwin Price, dean of the GW Virginia Campus. "With state-of-the-art classrooms and research laboratories, this academy will help to enhance transportation safety systems throughout the world." It was a sentiment echoed by NTSB Acting Chairman Jim Hall. "Our new Academy will train accident investigators from public and private organizations, both domestic and foreign," said Hall. "A number of safety boards in other countries and U.S.-based organizations have expressed strong interest in helping NTSB establish the Academy. We look forward to working with The George Washington University in making the Academy a success." The new facility will be adjacent to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Crash Analysis Center, also located at GW's Virginia Campus, and is expected to be ready for operation in early 2003. GW's close involvement with aviation issues dates back to 1997 when the University hosted the International Conference on Aviation Safety and Security in the 21st Century sponsored by the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. As a by-product of that event, GW launched the Aviation Institute to combine the efforts of federal, state, and local government within industry and academia to promote a comprehensive approach to safety and security issues facing the aviation industry in the new millennium. Within this Institute, the University offers an "Aviation Safety and Security Management Certificate Program." In 1999, the University sponsored the Global Summit on International Aviation Infrastructure. For this unique event, heads of industry and delegates from more than 50 countries gathered in Washington to examine aviation infrastructure weaknesses and work toward building a consensus that results in real reform. The George Washington University Virginia Campus serves an international technology and management community from its 77,000 square foot, $25 million graduate education and research center near Dulles International Airport in the Northern Virginia technology region. Since opening in August 1991, the 50-acre campus has grown from modest beginnings with 200 enrollments and $50,000 in funded research to a strong, vigorous cluster of academic programs with over 2,900 enrollments and funded research that tops $14 million.
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© 1998 The George Washington University
Virginia Campus
20101 Academic Way
Ashburn, Virginia 20147-2604
(703) 729-8300 Voice (703) 729-7244 Fax