Dr. Ben P. Millspaugh

He was born, Benton Powell Millspaugh, in a small farming community, Cherokee, Oklahoma. He was the son of Frank & Ruth Millspaugh, and year was 1936.

Ben finished high school in Cherokee, and then went on to a higher education at Oklahoma University, Northwestern Oklahoma State and he eventually earned his PhD at the University of Northern Colorado.

Dr. Millspaugh started out to be a high school chemistry and biology teacher, but decided that he wanted to be an airline pilot four years later. He took the training necessary to become a commercial, instrument, multi-engine pilot and was hired, in 1966, as a Flight Operations Instructor by United Airlines. When the economy slumped in 1969, he was furloughed and took a job in the private sector as a science teacher at Littleton High School, Littleton, Colorado. During this period, he developed an elective program on aerospace education and the course became so popular, Ben elected to continue with it rather than return to UAL when recalled. Over the following years of his career at LHS, he put 1830 students through the aerospace program and actually flew 1215 of them on their first orientation flight. He retired from public education in 1991 and was later hired as a Regional Director of Aerospace Education by the Civil Air Patrol. He helped the CAP develop several new projects and wrote a total of 19 books for their cadet and teacher programs.

Ben received several important aerospace education awards including the A. Scott Crossfield Aerospace Teacher of the Year (1989); the Christa McAuliffe Award For Excellence in Science and Mathematics (1989), the Civil Air Patrol Crown Circle Awards (1989)and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Aviation Educator of the Year (1990) In 1991, he was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.

His hobbies include the piano, sports cars, biplanes and writing. He is married to the former Karen A. Zoglo and they have a total 3 children. His daughter, Shawn, passed away in 2007.

His work in aerospace education has had a direct impact on more than 100,000 students, teachers, CAP cadets and students from kindergarten through college. He retired in 2004 and he and his wife live in Littleton, Colorado.