J. Leonard “Len” Hartman (1931-2022) was a man of many talents and interests. The native of Albemarle County, Virginia, worked for the C&O Railroad, was a cattle farmer, and managed a number of rental properties. As a Marine Corps veteran and lifetime member of the American Legion, he attended many military funerals on the honor guard.
Perhaps the greatest love in his life—other than his wife, Frances, and their children—was aviation. Hartman, an instrument-rated pilot since 1959, managed a small airfield east of Charlottesville in the 1960s. He enjoyed flying through the skies above his home “low and slow” in his 1966 Cessna 172, recalled his friend and legal adviser Marshall Yoder. Hartman delighted in taking his family on his flights and seeing the scenery from a fresh perspective.
“Len was a skilled pilot,” Yoder said. “He would float down and there would barely be a ‘thump’ when he’d land.”
As he entered his 90s, Hartman stopped flying his plane as often and began talking to Yoder about parting with it. He wanted to leave it in the right hands, where it could do the most good. But, he hadn’t yet found the right cause.
When Yoder told him about the burgeoning aviation program at EMU Lancaster and how his plane could greatly impact the next generation of pilots, Hartman found his answer. Before his death in February 2022, Hartman ensured that his beloved Cessna, as well as 25 percent of his estate, would be gifted to EMU. Because the gift was unrestricted, the university and its advancement division could decide how best to use it.
“Len knew there was a worldwide shortage of pilots, and he knew there would always be people interested in flight,” said Braydon Hoover, who worked with Hartman and Yoder on establishing the endowment. “And so, to honor his memory, we decided to put it all into a scholarship named after him.”
The J. Leonard “Len” Hartman Scholarship for Aviation will provide more than $17,000 in funds each year, starting in fall 2025, for aviation students at EMU Lancaster who demonstrate financial need.
The Hartman endowment totals about $345,000, which includes $20,000 from the sale of the Cessna. Hartman’s gift will help EMU live into its vision of opening new pathways of access and achievement, a vision outlined in the university’s 2023-28 strategic plan, Pathways of Promise: Preparing Tomorrow’s Unifying Leaders.
“It has quickly become one of our larger named endowed scholarships,” Hoover said, “for one of the fastest growing programs at EMU.”
You can contribute to scholarships for future aviators at EMU by donating online at emu.edu/giving and typing “J. Leonard Hartman Aviation Scholarship” or “Scholarship for Aviation” into the text field. Contact kirk.shisler@emu.edu for more details on how to support this worthy cause.
John Sibole, director of aviation at EMU Lancaster, said the scholarships will allow the program to further diversify its student body and recruit students from new areas.
“We at EMU Lancaster would like to express our sincere gratitude for the implementation of the Len Hartman scholarship fund for our aviation students,” Sibole said.
“The flight training component of their education is expensive, and these scholarships, which will be awarded in part on a needs basis, will provide new pathways of access into the aviation profession for underserved young people,” he added.
EMU’s aviation program soars
Word is spreading throughout the aviation industry about the strength of EMU’s program and the quality of its graduates. As a result, the EMU aviation program continues to grow in popularity. The program, which began in 2018 with five students, will welcome 24 students this upcoming semester—its largest cohort yet. Current enrollment in the program is at 49 students. A total of 21 students, in three cohorts so far, have graduated from the program to date.
Students enrolled in the four-year Leadership and Organizational Management (LOM) major with an aviation concentration earn a bachelor’s degree and the FAA credentials they need to become professional pilots. Students are paired with flight instructors though EMU’s flight training partner Aero-Tech Services Inc. at the Lancaster Airport in Lititz, Pennsylvania. While the program provides at least 270 hours of flight time, many students earn up to 1,000 hours by the time they graduate, said Sibole, noting that nearly 100 percent of their students find jobs within their first year of graduating.
One of the benefits of an aviation program the size of EMU’s is that students are given guaranteed weekly flight training slots with access to aircraft and an instructor. That’s something, Sibole said, that isn’t available at a lot of larger schools.
It’s a major reason Will Stover, a third-year aviation student, chose to attend EMU.
“You’re going to be flying pretty much from day one,” he said. “And you have guaranteed flight slots, so there’s no question you’ll be flying and you’ll be flying regularly.”
When students enter their senior year, they are required to complete a supervised internship with an established aviation organization for a full semester. For many aviation graduates, those internships translate into full-time careers.
During her senior year, Ivy Kreiser, a member of the program’s first cohort, interned at Venture Jets, a private charter and aviation services company in Lancaster. She landed a job there after graduating in 2022 and now works there as a second-in-command.
Becoming a pilot can be expensive. The affordability of EMU’s aviation program, compared to other schools, was a big draw for her.
“The EMU program is great because you’re going to get the education you need, the experience you need, and the flight schools you need,” Kreiser said. “You’re going to meet with professors who will give you the connections you’re hoping for and that you want. And you’re not going to spend as much money as some of the other big programs out there.”
Hartman leaves a legacy
In addition to donating to EMU, Hartman gifted parts of his estate to a library, school, retirement home and church, Yoder said.
The attorney fondly recalls spending afternoons on Hartman’s front porch, talking about everything from politics and religion to Virginia Tech basketball.
“He was such a decent, nice person,” Yoder said. “I miss being able to talk to him. But I think he would be really happy knowing where his bequest is going.”
For more information about EMU’s aviation program, visit: emu.edu/lancaster/aviation
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