2022 Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy was awarded the Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award at Aviation Week's 65th annual Laureate Awards on Nov 3, 2022.

Hazy is the founding father of a leasing sector that today owns more than half of the global commercial aircraft fleet. Having immigrated to the U.S. from Hungary in the 1950s, he graduated from the University of California-Los Angeles and set up his own airline consulting business before creating International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) in 1973. ILFC, which is now part of AerCap, became one of the dominant forces in global aviation, making Hazy a powerful voice even when it came to the design of new aircraft such as the Airbus A350. After leaving ILFC in 2010, he set up Air Lease Corp., another highly successful venture in the sector. Hazy is also known for his support of the U.S. National Air and Space Museum. He donated $66 million to the Smithsonian Institution to build what is now the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport.