Amelia Earhart

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Amelia Mary Earhart (1897 - disappeared 1937) was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart set several records, being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, first as a passenger and later, as a solo pilot.  She received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. In 1935, Earhart became a visiting faculty member at Purdue University as an advisor to aeronautical engineering and a career counselor to women students. She was also a member of the National Woman's Party and an early supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

During an attempt to make a circumnavigational flight of the globe in a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10-E Electra, on July 2, 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island. Fascination with her life, career, and disappearance continues to this day.