Iris Critchell is Really Cool

Joseph Min and Iris Critchell during a flight. Since you can only see the backs of their heads, you'll have to take my word for it.

Iris Critchell is one of my personal heroes. She officially directed the Bates Aeronautics program at Mudd for twenty-eight years before "retiring" in 1990. As you can see from the above photo, "retirement" is a loose term -- because even now, in her late eighties (she'll turn ninety this year), she's still teaching students to fly. And still very much a presence here on Mudd's campus.

Among other accomplishments: she's a member of the National Fight Instructors Hall of Fame. She served as a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots during World War II. And, oh yeah, she's a former Olympic swimmer. Inspired yet? I recently came across an archived interview with Iris from 1984 -- among other interesting tidbits, she talks about raising money for the 1936 Olympics, the experience of competing in Hitler's Berlin, and how she ended up at HMC.