By Williesha Morris | wmorris@al.com
For the first time in almost 80 years, a new pilot has earned a license from Tuskegee University.
Isaiah Hand, 20, earned his private pilot’s license through the new aviation science degree program, which relaunched in 2024 after receiving $6.7 million in federal funding. The university is the site of the storied Tuskegee Airmen program for Black pilots in World War II.
“There is no other feeling like it,” Hand, a Florida native and first-generation college student, said in a news release. He skipped summer vacation to keep training during the summer.
Hand hopes to go on to complete more certifications and get a commercial pilot’s license.
“This is exactly the kind of impact we want to have on our students,” said President Mark Brown. “One only has to look into his eyes to be clear about our purpose. Confident, excited, poised and ready to tackle the most complex problems our world has to offer.”
Currently, 16 other students are working towards their certifications. The university program aims to helps students qualify for jobs in aviation, engineering and meteorology.
From 1941 to 1946, about 1,000 Black pilots trained at Tuskegee, becoming the first Black flying unit in the United States military. They became one of the most highly decorated units who fought in World War II.
The original Tuskegee Airmen program ended in 1949 when President Harry Truman integrated the armed forces.
Recently, Alabama leaders asked federal officials to keep information about the airmen in U.S. Air Force training materials. A video was briefly pulled, then reinstated, after President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive order.
