As the home of The Spirit of Columbus® Award and having ten years ago launched the renewal of the story of Jerrie Mock’s history-making flight in our community and around the world, The Columbus Foundation feels the weight of the responsibility of stewardship for this remarkable story of accomplishment.
Why? Because this has been an under-appreciated story of courage, joy, and determination that was Jerrie’s first and foremost, but, is also ours as a community, especially as it was captured in what she named her plane, Spirit of Columbus.
Each year we recognize someone in our community who reflects the spirit that saw Jerrie through to success in her quest with The Spirit of Columbus Award. We are pleased to share this interview with this year’s honoree, Dr. Frederic Bertley, who, like our previous Spirit of Columbus Award honorees, is also on a quest that features courage, joy, and determination—all while inspiring others to embrace the inspirations and opportunities that science and learning can bring.
We celebrate Dr. Bertley, but in doing so, we also mean to celebrate all that is and all who embody, shape, and share The Spirit of Columbus. As Jerrie says at the end of this video, taped during a 2014 interview with Doug Kridler, The Columbus Foundation's President and CEO, “Long Live The Spirit of Columbus!”