A native of Dallas, Texas, H. Ross Perot, Jr. came to prominence early in life. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and shortly thereafter co-piloted the first around-the-world helicopter flight in 1982, at the age of 23. Using a Bell 206L-1 Long Ranger II named “Spirit of Texas,” he and Jay Coburn flew around the world in 29 days, 3 hours and 8 minutes. Perot next served eight years as a fighter pilot with the U.S. Air Force. As a real estate developer and Chairman of the Perot Group, he was responsible for development of the Fort Worth Alliance Airport among his many successful projects, and chaired of the Texas Governor’s Task Force for Economic Growth. He was also the Chairman of the U.S. Air Force Memorial Foundation, which built the Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C. Perot is a recipient of the Smithsonian’s Samuel P. Langley Medal for Aeronautics for outstanding contributions to the sciences of aeronautics and astronautics.
