Today, UND’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is one of the world’s leading collegiate aviation schools.

Odegard told the Minot group during that 1984 meeting the aviation program at UND got off to a rather humble start in 1968-69 when Ernie Fox of Montana donated two light aircraft. The school started with 12 students and in 1984 it had 750 students working on majors, making the aerospace school the second largest college on the UND campus. Odegard credited the late Sen. Mark Andrews, R-ND, for getting funds from the Federal Aviation Administration to establish the aerospace school.

Odegard attended Minot State University, earned a degree from UND in 1966, completed work for a master’s degree the next year, was named an associate professor in 1972 and full professor in 1977. He held an airline transport certificate, both single and multi-engine, with more than 7,000 flying hours and also was a certified public accountant, according to the Oct. 21, 1978, edition of The Minot Daily News.

Odegard died in 1998 at age 57.

Submitted Photo The late John Odegard, a Minot native, was the founder of the University of North Dakota’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences. The aviation program got its start with two donated planes. Photo from the University of North Dakota.

According to information from the North Dakota Office of the Governor, Odegard received numerous awards and other honors for his work, including the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, North Dakota’s highest honor for citizens, presented posthumously in 2015, and the prestigious Frank G. Brewer Trophy from the National Aeronautics Association. He was inducted into the N.D. Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, N.D. Aviation Hall of Fame and Norsk Hostfest Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in Minot. He served on numerous boards and committees, including 20 years on the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.