Robert Giles Pitts- A native of Marion. Alabama Robert Giles Pitts served as Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Director of the School of Aviation at Auburn University and manager of the Auburn-Ope I ika Airport for more than thirty-five years. Pitts was among the first class of students to graduate with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Alabama Polytechnic Institute (predecessor of Auburn University). Following graduation, Pitts earned his wings as an aviator in the United States Marine Corps before earning a graduate degree from California Institute of Technology. Returning to Auburn in 1935, Pitts was instrumental in the development of the Aerospace Engineering Program. During his tenure at Auburn, Pitts was responsible for the creation of Civil Aviation Authority training programs that produced more than 1.500 pilots, including teaching ground school courses for the initial classes of The Tuskegee Airmen.
During his career, Pitts made significant contributions to aviation, especially military aviation, in the southeast as he helped design, construct and develop numerous airfields in the region. Pitts was appointed a member of the first Alabama Airport Commission, established to supervise the development of the state's aviation infrastructure. An active member of numerous civic groups, Pitts was an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1979, through an act of the Alabama Legislature, the Auburn-OpeIika Airport was named in his honor.
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Robert Giles Pitts was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame at the Southern Museum of Flight on the 26th of March 2011
