Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (generally referred to as Riddle or ERAU) is a private, coeducational university with a history dating from the early days of aviation. Students are enrolled in one of two residential campuses located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, or in Embry-Riddle Worldwide, composed of over 130 non-residential campuses and online programs. The residential campuses provide education in a traditional setting while Embry-Riddle Worldwide serves civilian and military working adults.
Embry-Riddle began in 1925 as the Embry-Riddle Company, an aircraft dealer and airmail provider, founded by Talton Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle in Cincinnati, Ohio. Embry-Riddle was eventually incorporated into what is now American Airlines, before reforming during the buildup to World War II in Miami, Florida, as the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation, and later, the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute. Embry-Riddle moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1965 and was renamed Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1970. The Prescott, Arizona, campus opened in 1978.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is an accredited aviation-oriented university. The university utilizes a fleet of over 90 aircraft and serves culturally diverse students primarily motivated toward careers in aviation and aerospace. The university offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees and recently announced PhD degrees in Aviation and in Engineering Physics at the Daytona Beach Campus and through Embry-Riddle Worldwide. Bachelor's degrees, associate's degrees and non-degree programs are also offered by Embry-Riddle Worldwide.
Embry-Riddle's largest residential campus and academic headquarters is located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 185-acre site has been the home to Embry-Riddle since it moved from Miami in 1965. Built adjacent to the Daytona Beach International Airport, the campus has easy access for flight training. The main campus consists of an aviation complex, academic quad and residence halls surrounding the student center and Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park. Athletic facilities are located at the east end of campus, anchored by the ICI Center.
Total spring 2008 enrollment at the Daytona Beach campus is 4,562; 4,186 undergraduate and 376 graduate students. Aeronautical science (flight training) and aerospace engineering are the two most popular degrees at the Daytona Beach campus. Daytona Beach's aerospace engineering degree program ranks number one in the U.S. News & World Report college rankings of aerospace engineering degree schools without a Ph.D. program. Embry-Riddle has received this honor every year since the category was introduced in 2001.
Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach campus has one of the most extensive ROTC programs in the nation and the nation's largest Air Force ROTC program. The ROTC program frequently wins national competitions. The engineering physics program at the Daytona Beach campus is currently the largest undergraduate engineering physics program in the country and the only one specializing in aerospace.
The Daytona Beach campus sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports. The Eagles are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and compete in The Sun Conference. Embry-Riddle's athletics are directed by basketball head-coach Steve Ridder. On October 2, 2006, Ridder was named NAIA National Athletic Director of the Year. Ridder led the school to its only national title in any sport in 2000, in basketball.