Rolls-Royce Receives AFA Chair’s Award for Aerospace Education Achievement

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md., Sept. 11, 2023 — The Air & Space Forces Association Chair of the Board Bernie Skoch presented Rolls-Royce with a special “Aerospace Education Achievement Award.” Adam Riddle, Chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, accepted the award on Monday, Sept. 11, to kick off the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Rolls-Royce has sponsored AFA’s National Teacher of the Year (TOY) program since 2016. The program honors the commitment and achievements of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) educators in the U.S. whose classroom performance, initiatives, educational outreach, and leadership have significantly impacted their schools and communities.

Rolls-Royce provides the top three National TOYs with grants up to $3,000 and likewise supports the AFA State and Chapter TOY programs. In 2022, they provided grants worth up to $500 to 25 State and 72 Chapter TOYs. Since becoming the program’s sponsor in 2016, Rolls-Royce has contributed more than $650,000 in educator grants and financial support to AFA’s TOY program, helping support those teachers who are inspiring the next generation of STEM experts in classrooms across the country.

Beyond its support of AFA, Rolls-Royce has awarded more than $2 million to over 600 schools in the U.K. since 2004, through their Schools Prize Program which promotes education in the STEM field.

The AFA Chair’s Award for Aerospace Education Achievements is a special accolade reserved for individuals or organizations that go above and beyond in demonstrating special or sustained achievement in support of AFA’s education initiatives, particularly its STEM education programs, CyberPatriot and StellarXplorers; its TOY program; and its educator grants and scholarship funds.

Congratulations, Rolls-Royce!