Chuck Crinnian, certified flight instructor, and Charles Crinnian, M.D., are the same person: a professional aviator and a physician. He has combined both careers with full-throttle passion. His extensive experience as a pilot shaped some of his research as a neurologist and his successful medical career allowed him to make a generous estate gift to Embry-Riddle that will continue to keep pilots safer.
Crinnian and his wife, Susan, decided to make a gift to enhance existing and create new safety training programs for aeronautical science students in the College of Aviation at the Prescott Campus. The couple liked the option because it brought Chuck’s commitment to aviation and medicine full circle.
Chuck, who earned his private pilot’s certificate at 17 and holds multiple ratings, was among the first certified flight instructors at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus, climbing into Grumman Tigers produced in the mid-1970s. He spent a few years as an instructor and in corporate aviation before deciding to pursue an accelerated pre-med degree and ultimately specialize as a neurologist.
Despite the rigors of medical training and practice, aviation was never far from his mind, and he found opportunities to advance the wellbeing of pilots and promote aviation safety. Throughout his career, he conducted research on neurology of aviation and space flight and high-altitude physiology. He eventually served as an FAA-designated senior aviation medical examiner.
Today, now retired from medical practice, Chuck remains true to his commitment to pilot safety with his gift to Embry-Riddle.
“Being one of the founding flight instructors at Prescott, I treasure my experiences there and lifelong friends from my association with the university and the flight line,” he says. “Although I made a career change and became a physician, my heart is in aviation, and I wish to have my bounty directly contribute to aviation and aviation safety.”
His estate gift also represents the control that comes from long-term planning, which has also been a constant in his life.
“Planning ahead is part of life,” he says. “Without planning ahead, one is letting someone else do the planning for you. As a pilot or a doctor, one must stay in control. Philanthropic planning is a natural progression of any career that one’s life is dedicated to.”
Unlike his earlier commitments, executing an estate plan was quick, easy and immediately gratifying.
“The reward is knowing that the bounty that is inherited by Embry-Riddle will be put to good use and not be squandered,” Crinnian says. “Future students will benefit from the intent of the estate gift, future aviators will be better prepared and aviation safety will be improved.”