A Bias For Cleaner Air

In a world where "alternative" has become a trendy way to describe everything from medicine to lifestyles, Max Shauck was a trendsetter before alternative was cool.
For three decades, the professor of aviation sciences has been researching and developing a renewable, clean-burning alternative aviation fuel. He began modifying aircraft to fly on ethanol in 1980 and made the first flight on ethanol in February 1981. In 1989, he and his wife, Grazia Zanin, completed the first flight across the Atlantic in an ethanol-powered aircraft, a 6,000-mile flight from Waco to Paris, for which he received the Harmon Trophy in 1991 -- an award given in the past to Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Chuck Yeager.
In February, Dr. Shauck received another prestigious honor, the 2001 Federal Aviation Administration Excellence in Aviation Award. 
"For more than three decades, Dr. Shauck has supported the FAA, the aviation community and the nation's aviation through his applied aviation research activities and ongoing academic work," said Jane Garvey, FAA administrator. "Working with government, academia and industry, he has made valuable contributions to discovering alternative fuels for this nation's general aviation fleet." 
FAA annually awards the highly competitive Excellence in Aviation designation to individuals and/or institutions in recognition of significant aviation-related research efforts currently benefiting the aviation community.
At the presentation of the FAA award, Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr. also announced the establishment of the Baylor Institute for Air Science, noting its interdisciplinary nature. BIAS will encompass the Department of Aviation Sciences and the Renewable Aviation Fuels Development Center, both of which Dr. Shauck directs.