Wright Brothers, Werhner von Braun Earn Top Ranking as Most Important and Influential Ever in Aviation Weekís "Top 100 Stars of Aerospace" Poll

NEW YORK, NY - In the year commemorating the 100th anniversary of The Wright Brothers historic flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright, followed by Wernher von Braun, Robert Goddard, Leonardo da Vinci, Glenn Curtiss, Charles A. Lindbergh, William L. "Billy" Mitchell, Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, Neil A. Armstrong, Daniel Bernoulli were voted the top 10 luminaries in aviation and aerospace history in a poll of industry professionals unveiled today.

Aviation Weekís Aviation Week's "Top 100 Stars of Aerospace" poll, a first-ever initiative to identify the most important, most interesting and most influential people in the global aerospace community -- past and present - was revealed today at a gala event of industry professionals in Paris.

As voted by their peers, the most important aviation and aerospace personalities of all-time are as follows:

1. Wilbur and Orville Wright
2. Wernher von Braun
3. Robert Goddard
4. Leonardo da Vinci
5. Glenn Curtiss
6. Charles A. Lindbergh
7. William L. "Billy" Mitchell
8. Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson
9. Neil A. Armstrong
10. Daniel Bernoulli
11. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager
12. Otto Lilienthal
13. Buzz Aldrin
14. William Boeing
15. Alan B. Shepard, Jr.
16. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold
17. Manfred von Richthofen
18. Samuel P. Langley
19. Igor I. Sikorsky
20. Jules Verne
21. John K. Northrop
22. Herb Kelleher
23. Edward V. "Eddie" Rickenbacker
24. Jacques-Etienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier
25. tie Christopher Kraft / Antoine de Saint-ExupÈry
26. Curtis LeMay
27. Ernst Mach
28. Juan Trippe
29. Elbert "Burt" Rutan
30. Theodore von Karman
31. Alberto Santos-Dumont
32. James Van Allen
33. Alexander Graham Bell
34. Ben Rich
35. Alvin M. "Tex" Johnston
36. Richard Branson
37. Yuri Gagarin
38. Octave Chanute
39. James "Jimmy" H. Doolittle
40. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
41. Robert "Bob" Crandall
42. Space Shuttle Challenger Crew
43. Louis Bleriot
44. Donald Douglas
45. Claire L. Chenault
46. Will Rogers
47. James A. Lovell, Jr.
48. Robert "Bob" Hoover
49. tie Thomas H. Kelly / ClÈment Ader
50. Hugh Dryden
51. Pierre-Georges LatÈcoËre
52. tie Marcel Bloch (Dassault) / Roger BÈteille
53. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom
54. Ferdinand von Zeppelin
55. Jacqueline Auriol
56. Arthur C. Clarke
57. Isoroku Yamamoto
58. Daniel and Harry Guggenheim
59. Anne Morrow Lindbergh
60. Robert J. Collier
61. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
62. Elmer Sperry
63. James "Jimmy" Stewart
64. Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan
65. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
66. tie Patricia "Patty" Wagstaff / Frank Whittle
67. tie Carl Sagan / Sergey Korolyov
68. Albert Boyd
69. RenÈ Leduc
70. John W. Young
71. Gene Roddenberry
72. Valentina Tereshkova
73. Thomas E. Braniff
74. Walter C. "Walt" Williams
75. Jean Mermoz
76. Henri and Maurice Farman
77. Paul Poberezny
78. Jean Bertin
79. Sally K. Ride
80. Roland Garros
81. Osborne Reynolds
82. Amelia Earhart
83. Georges Guynemer
84. H.G. Wells
85. Jean-Pierre HaignerÈ
86. tie James S. McDonnell, Jr. / Robert Esnault-Pelterie
87. tie Allan and Malcom Loughhead (Lockheed) / Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont
88. Richard Bong
89. John H. Glenn, Jr.
90. tie James E. Webb / Freddie Laker
91. Lawrence Sperry
92. Douglas Bader
93. Howard Hughes
94. Willy Messerschmitt
95. Louis Breguet
96. William A. Moffett
97. William "Bull" Halsey
98. George Mueller
99. Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe
100. Boris Petrov

"These men and women are the dreamers and doers who have changed the way we live. Every aspect of modern life is affected because of their accomplishments, inspiration and vision of flight," said Aviation Week Group Executive Vice President/Publisher Kenneth E. Gazzola. "The list is truly global - 20 from France alone - which demonstrates that the desire to go higher and faster is shared by people all over the earth."

Additional information, including biographical sketches and the top three finishers in 15 different categories, is available at www.AviationNow.com.

The Top 100 program, part of Aviation Week's The Next Century of Flight (NCF) education and outreach initiative, is produced in partnership with the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) and its U.S. affiliate, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

The voting website, designed and hosted by IBM, featured more than 760 candidates in 15 categories. To ensure the credibility and professional caliber of the Top 100 results, the ballot was only open to ICAS and AIAA affiliates and members, Aviation Week group subscribers and Next Century of Flight program partners.

About Aviation Week With nearly 50 products and services and a core audience of some one million professionals and enthusiasts, Aviation Week, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, is the world's premier multimedia information and service provider to the aviation and aerospace market. The Next Century of Flight leverages all of the assets of the Aviation Week group to promote aviation education and aerospace careers around the world. The program is currently supported by these partners:

• Air Transport Association of America and participating ATA member airlines: Alaska Airlines, America West Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Midwest Express Airlines
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Evolution of Flight
• Be A Pilot
• Bombardier Aerospace
• Centurion Press, Ltd.
• Civil Air Patrol
• Federal Aviation Administration
• GIFAS, the French Aerospace Industries Association
• McGraw-Hill Education
• National Business Aviation Association's AvKids program
• Parker Hannifin
• Society of British Aerospace Companies
• U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission - Women in Aviation International
• Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
• Plus the ongoing collaboration of NASA

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The Corporation has more than 320 offices in 34 countries. Sales in 2002 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com

About IBM

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is one of the largest providers worldwide in the field of information technology (hardware, software and services). The company employs approximately 310,000 people worldwide and is active in more than 160 countries. IBM and its partners provide their clients with a complete range of products in advanced information technology: from hardware and software through services and complex application solutions through to outsourcing projects and training facilities. Further information can be obtained about IBM on www.ibm.com.