The Aviation Achievement Award honored the late O. Wendell Murphy, co-founder of the Kentucky Aviation History Roundtable, the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame.

Oliver Wendell Murphy, Jr. was born and reared in Lexington. Despite retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that gradually took his eyesight starting in his youth, he was an active and successful businessman. He and Betty owned and ran Lexington's Avis Rent A Car franchise, and Murphy Surf-Air Trucking Co. He was also active in community life and generously supported several organizations.

A former Air Force mechanic (he memorized the eye chart to enlist), Wendell's interest in aviation led him and Dr. George Gumbert to form the Kentucky Aviation History Roundtable in 1978. The group met quarterly in homes, offices and hotels to hear speakers on a variety of aviation topics. In 1995, with the opening of the Aviation Museum of Kentucky at Blue Grass Airport, our founders' dream of a permanent museum-home was realized.

An AMK Life Member, Wendell led the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame through its critical first five years. He built the program from a mere idea into an event that other Halls of Fame watch and emulate. He stepped down from the vice presidency after the 2000 ceremonies to concentrate on acquiring sponsorships.

He died at age 70 on March 15, 2001 after a brief illness. His wife Betty, his able right hand in business and in life, continues the businesses they built; both she and his daughter, Tiffany Murphy Yarbrough, continue the Murphy family's involvement with the Aviation Museum of Kentucky.