Captain Barrington Irving, Jr. was reappointed to the Broward College Foundation Board of Directors during its May 26, 2022 board meeting to serve a two-year term, his third term on the board.

Captain Irving was inducted into the Broward College Alumni Hall of Distinction during a ceremony commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Emil Buehler Aviation Institute on Tuesday, November 14, 2017, on the Judson A. Samuels South Campus in Pembroke Pines. Irving was also identified as one of 2019’s Business Aviation Top 40 under 40 in the National Business Aviation’s Young Professionals in Business Aviation.

He was selected as a distinguished alumnus for many reasons, including setting two Guinness World Records when he became both the youngest (at age 23) and the first black pilot to fly solo around the world.

A Kingston Jamaican native, Irving was inspired to pursue aviation at age 15 when a Jamaican airline pilot offered to mentor him. He rejected college football scholarships to pursue a career in STEM and never looked back. He began taking courses at Broward College in 2002 and worked toward an Associate of Science degree in the Professional Pilot program. He graduated magna cum laude from Florida Memorial University’s aeronautical science program.

He has traveled to 50 countries, conducted more than 30 STEM expeditions, and successfully challenged middle school students to build a car faster than a Ferrari 430 and then high schoolers to build a plane he flew on its test flight. He has a passion to explore, inspire, and educate others. He developed a Flying Classroom curriculum to improve the way students learn STEM: in following his global expeditions, they engage in problem-solving activities that enable them to overcome new challenges.

Before founding the Flying Classroom, he created a nonprofit, Experience Aviation, which offers hands-on, STEM-based programs and career guidance to middle and high school students in Florida, Texas, and Georgia. He was the recipient of a Congressional Resolution acknowledging his pioneering work in aviation education.

He was the keynote speaker at Broward College’s Spring 2010 graduation ceremony and he was the keynote speaker at the inaugural American Dream Summit. Most importantly, to benefit deserving students, he established the Captain Barrington Irving American Dream Scholarship.

Captain Irving’s two-year reappointment on the Broward College Foundation board is effective immediately.