he son of a decorated World War Two pilot, Richard
E. Gillespie grew up around airplanes and learned to fly while he was still
in high school. In 1985, with his wife Pat Thrasher, he founded The International
Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. Known by its acronym TIGHAR (pronounced
tiger), the nonprofit foundation has an international membership of several
hundred scholars, scientists and enthusiasts whose volunteer expertise and
financial contributions support the organization's mission to promote responsible
aviation archaeology and historic preservation.
As TIGHAR’s executive director, Ric Gillespie has conducted dozens of educational
seminars at air museums around the U.S. and has organized and moderated conferences
of air museum professionals in Britain and Europe. Gillespie has also led over three
dozen aviation archaeological expeditions to remote areas of the U.S., Canada, Europe,
Micronesia and New Guinea.
Since launching TIGHAR’s investigation of the Earhart
disappearance in 1988, he has led nine expeditions to the Phoenix Islands. Ric Gilllespie’s
writings on the Earhart disappearance have appeared in the organization’s journal
TIGHAR Tracks and in the Naval Institute’s Proceedings and Naval
History and
in LIFE Magazine. |