Scholarships and Awards

The deadline for Foundation scholarship applications is April 1st.

George T. Douglas Aircraft Structural Technology Scholarship

ELIGIBILITY - Updated March, 2008

A student must meet the following criteria:

• Full-time student at Middle Georgia College
• Current enrollment in any degree or certificate program in Aircraft Structural Technology at the Georgia Aviation Campus
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress as set forth in the student handbook and maintain a minimum overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 at Middle Georgia College
• Must have completed a semester of program specific courses
• Demonstrate an extraordinary grasp of the technical field of study through academic performance and hands-on proficiency as demonstrated by a minimum program GPA of 3.5
• Demonstrate a strong work ethic and sense of professional responsibility as indicated by your overall work ethic assessment

APPLICATION PROCEDURES

A student must submit the following by the published deadline to be considered:

• A completed application for the George T. Douglas Aircraft Structural Technology Scholarship
• A personal resume (typed)
• An unofficial transcript from Warrior Web

George T. Douglas Aircraft Structural Technology Scholarship Application

History

George T. Douglas was born January 25, 1924, in Elbert County, Georgia, to Thomas and Ruby Douglas.

George was first attracted to airplanes and the people who maintained them as a young man. He began his career in aircraft sheet metal in 1940 in a National Youth Administration (NYA) program at Chapman Springs, GA, for $12 a month plus room and board. In 1942, he started working at Wellston Army Air Depot (later known as Warner Robins Air Material Command and now known as Robins AFB), after attending three months of specialized training at Macon Aircraft School. He was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corp in 1943, and was assigned to the 312th Fighter Wing at Perry Army Air Base until 1945, when he was transferred to Chanute Field in Illinois as a sheet metal instructor. At the end of the war, he separated from the Army Air Corps and was re-employed at Warner Robins Air Material Command, where he worked on B-29 aircraft overhaul, modifications, and storage. In 1948, he was transferred to Tachikawa Air Base in Japan, where he worked at the Japan Air Depot installing Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) equipment on B-29s and teaching aircraft battle damage repair techniques to young airmen and civilian technicians. In 1951, he again returned to Warner Robins, where he became part of a new Rapid Aircraft Maintenance (RAM) team that would deploy world-wide to make repairs to critical combat aircraft. He retired from federal service in 1980 and went to work for Zantop International Airlines in Macon, where he worked as the swing shift maintenance supervisor for the next 10 years. In 1990, he left Zantop to work as an aircraft sheet metal instructor at Heart of Georgia Technical Institute's training facility in Eastman, which later became Georgia Aviation Technical College. During his 12 years there, he trained many outstanding technicians, and as part of a special project sponsored by Governor Zell Miller, he and his students rebuilt the fuselage section of a World War II B-29 aircraft called the "Sweet Eloise". This aircraft was assembled and placed on permanent display at Dobbins AFB in Marietta, GA, in 1996 for the Atlanta Olympics. For over 60 years, George Douglas was a gifted and creative aircraft sheet metal technician and instructor. He retired from State service in 2002.

This scholarship was created in his honor in 2005 by Mr. Douglas' friends and fellow employees at Georgia Aviation Technical College, to benefit outstanding aircraft structural technology students. It is administered by the Georgia Aviation and Technical College Foundation, Inc.