Barrington Irving
At age 16, Barrington Irving, Jr., was working in his Jamaican-born parents’ inner-city Miami bookstore when he met United Airlines Captain Gary Robinson. By age 19, and with Robinson’s mentorship, he obtained his first pilot's license, and began inspiring young people in his community to aviation. As an aerospace major at Florida Memorial University, he promised himself he would become the youngest—and the first of African descent—to fly solo around the world. In 2005, he established the non-profit Experience Aviation Learning Center to highlight his efforts and address the significant shortage of youth pursuing careers in aviation and aerospace. On June 27, 2007, after 130 hours in flight, 95 days, 26,800 miles, and landings in countries such as the Azores, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Egypt, Dubai, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Japan, and Russia, he made good on his promise. Upon returning to Florida Memorial to complete his studies, Irving said, “It doesn't matter where you are coming from, what you have, what you don’t have. My slogan is ‘Dream, live, fly’—and that is what I wanted to prove.”