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Gloria W. Heath

Hall of Fame

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Inducted 2006

College

Smith College

Inducted as a truly great player, Gloria Heath attended Smith College and was a member of the U.S. team in 1941. Soon after receiving her pilot's license, she became a contributor to the national war effort. Upon graduation, Heath served as a pilot in the Women’s Air Force Pilots (WASP) during World War II. She was assigned to fly the B-26 bomber for fighter pilots' aerial gunnery practice. After the war, she became a founding member of the Flight Safety Foundation. Following the war she also returned to the U.S. Team program, making the U.S. Reserve team as a goalie in 1949 and 1950, the U.S. Touring team to Great Britain in 1951, and the U.S. First Team in 1954. 

Heath served as the president of the United States Women’s Lacrosse Association from 1951 to 1954 and developed and initiated the organization’s Loan Kit program. Heath's contributions to aviation safety were recognized internationally, with awards that included the Barbour International Air Safety Award in 1965, the Smith College Medal in 1971, the Engineering Sciences Award of the International Academy of Astronautics in 1990, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Women in Aerospace in 1995, and the President's Award of Flight Safety Foundation in 2000. She was also cited as one of the 100 most influential women in aviation at the 100th Anniversary of Flight in 2001. Gloria Heath passed away in December, 2017 at the age of 95.