Edwin A. Link Special Collections Endowment

Purpose

Support the special collections at Evans Library known as the Edwin A. Link Special Collections. (GF000146)

Description

Funds will be used at the discretion of the Dean of Evans Library; to purchase materials for the Edwin A. Link Special Collections; to provide needed resources to maintain special collections; to partially support a Link Librarian position in the Evans Library; to compensate technically gifted students to provide services that support Special Collections, and to generally strengthen the Special Collections.

History

Edwin A. Link was born on July 26^th, 1904 in Huntington, Indiana. He was a pioneer in aviation, underwater archaeology, and submersibles, and was mostly recognized for inventing the flight simulator commercialized in 1929 that trained countless pilots, including half a million airmen during World War II. 

Early in his life, Mr. Link founded his own company, Link Aviation, where he was president and board chairman until it merged with the General Precision Corporation. After that, he was president and a director of General Precision until its merger with the Singer Company of Stamford. The company, now the Link Flight Simulator Division of the Singer Company, is based in Kirkwood. 

He spent the second half of his life immersed in oceanographic exploration, creating innovative ways to explore the oceans. He designed and developed several devices to aid scientific research, including Johnson-Sea-Link Class submersibles, and they have been used to discover, observe and collect thousands of biological samples from ocean reefs, previously unknown to the marine science world.

Aside from all his professional accomplishments and advancements, in 1958, he established the Link Foundation which has awarded grants for research in aeronautics and oceanography to more than 120 universities and nonprofit organizations. 

Mr. Link passed away on September 7^th, 1981. However, is still remembered by thousands of people throughout the years for all his great achievements and help. In 2018, Edwin A. Link was named inductee to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.

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