Talton Higbee Embry (May 17, 1897 – 1946) was an American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

enthusiast who co-founded the company leading to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Early life and family

Embry was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

where he started his education. He attended Asheville School in

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. While Embry was trying to start a bus company in Cincinnati he met early aviator John Paul Riddle, who had landed at the local polo field. Riddle offered him a plane ride, and from then on Embry was hooked on aviation. After parting ways with Riddle in 1939, he moved to California in 1941. Five years later, in 1946, Embry died of a heart attack. He married Mary Elizabeth Bennett in June 1919.

Career

Two years after meeting, T. Higbee Embry and friend, John Paul Riddle, formed the Embry-Riddle Company on December 17, 1925 at

Lunken Airport Cincinnati Municipal Airport – Lunken Field (Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport) is a public airport in Cincinnati, Ohio, three miles (5 km) east of Downtown Cincinnati. It is owned by the city of Cincinnati and serves private aircr ...

. The company was financed by Embry and he served as company president, and the two began to sell

Waco Aircraft Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

. In the spring of 1926, the Embry-Riddle Company opened the Embry-Riddle Flying School. The Embry-Riddle Company was merged with the

Aviation Corporation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...

(AVCO) of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

in 1929. AVCO phased out the Embry-Riddle Flying School in the fall of 1930. Shortly after, AVCO became American Airways (the predecessor of

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

), and the Embry-Riddle Company was gone.

References

External links

The T. Higbee Embry Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Embry, T. Higbee American aviation businesspeople 1897 births 1946 deaths Businesspeople from Cincinnati Aviators from Ohio Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University 20th-century American businesspeople