TWU officially approves new aviation school, celebrates historic $15 million gift

TWU will now be home to the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences.

The gift comes after the CEO of the Doswell Foundation, Beverly Fricke, approached TWU Chancellor Carine Feyten with the idea to launch a flight school at the university. Fricke wanted to honor her late husband, Kenneth Fricke, who had taken flight training. Kenneth Fricke was the nephew of Florence Doswell, as well as the executor of her estate. He died in 2021.

Feyten told the regents Wednesday that she felt the stars had aligned as she listened to Beverly Fricke’s idea. During the pandemic, Feyten said, she had started thinking about how TWU could contribute to alleviating the shortage of female pilots. Women make up 4% of commercial airline pilots.

“After all, we are tied for No. 1 in Texas for diversity and No. 4 in the country, and TWU has a long history in the world of aviation,” Feyten said, referencing the university’s collection of the official archive of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and contributions to the Whirly-Girls, an organization advancing women in helicopter aviation.

“Moreover, TWU is located in the DFW metroplex, home to two major airlines, and our third campus in Houston, another hub for major airlines, as well as Denton having its own very own airport. It seemed like everything was perfect.”