Mr. Pace has a unique background of education, management experience, and practice in the fields of aviation and civil engineering. Concentrating on airport development, he has worked in both domestic and international areas. This work has been in all types and categories of airports, including conversion of surplus military airfields to civilian aviation operations and in the development of airport systems. He has been directly responsible for details on more than 100 airports in the U.S. and abroad, starting with the selection of the airport location through the processes of environmental studies and hearings, planning for compatible land use in the vicinity, runway and building locations, and design of airport facilities for initial and future development, as well as planning for the management, operations, and maintenance organizations for the airports.
He has analyzed and defined the airports system for the Republic of Hungary, resulting in the Hungary Civil Aviation Feasibility Study, Final Report, and he has performed similar studies in Bangladesh and Ethiopia which also included organizational and management review of airports converting to commercial, profit-making airports. Mr. Pace was a member of the TASC/WMA Team which performed an initial feasibility study for Taiwan's Small Aircraft Manufacturing Program. He has evaluated the airports infrastructure in Mozambique and prepared project recommendations for modernizing the system.
His work has been at the international, federal, state, and local levels of government which has given him a clear insight and appreciation for the responsibilities at all levels for airport planning, development, and continuing management, operations, and maintenance.
Mr. Pace's extended work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided the opportunity for learning the technical, operational, managerial, and financial problems facing the nation's airports. During this time, he was directly responsible for the FAA's two airports (Dulles International and Washington National) for a period of eight years.
His assignment to the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal was that of the principal U.S. Technical Representative on the Air Navigation Commission of that body. The tasks included the development of standards and recommended practices for all international civil aviation activities.
Mr. Pace has served as an expert witness in the following cases: Japan Airlines B-747 accident at Anchorage, Alaska, where airport operations and maintenance were causative factors; DC-10 collision accident at Anchorage, Alaska, where airport facilities (taxiway signs) were contributing factors to aircraft using wrong runway for takeoff; Polar Airlines taxiing accident at JFK Airport, where B-747 freight aircraft outboard engine struck refueling truck parked alongside active taxiway; and an Argentine Airlines taxiing accident, where B-747 outboard engine struck concrete sewer catch basin at night, temporarily placed near edge of aircraft apron.
Mr. Pace has developed staffing standards for FAA's regional airports organizations and also provided management support to the Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS) program of the FAA. Other reports and studies have been concerned with airport management and operational problems, with focus on noise, security requirements, safety of flight during extensive construction at the airport, planning for new airline service, and accident investigation where the airport facilities may have been a factor.
Mr. Pace's teaching experience includes: Civil Engineering Instructor - Washington University, St. Louis, MO; and USAF Flight Instructor (3 yrs.) B-24 & B-32 type aircraft.
He is a commercial pilot, with instrument, multi-engine and jet ratings, a registered civil engineer (Missouri Engineer's Registration E-3831), and an American Association of Airport Executives Certified Executive, Life Member. He is a member of the Air Traffic Controllers Association (ATCA) and Airplane Owner's and Pilot's Association (AOPA)
HONORS AND AWARDS
Princeton Fellow in Public & International Affairs
Federal Senior Executive Service -- Exceptional Service Award
EDUCATION
Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton, NJ;
Federal Executive Training at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA;
Princeton Fellowship in Public Affairs; 1964-1965
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS; B.S., Civil Engineering; 1941
Registered Professional Engineer - Missouri