History and Background
Barnstormer pilot John Paul Riddle and entrepreneur T. Higbee Embry founded the Embry-Riddle Company, the university’s forerunner, in December 1925 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
After a merger with an air services group in 1929, the Embry-Riddle Company briefly ceased being an independent enterprise. Ten years later, the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation was reborn and quickly expanded to meet the need for pilots in World War II. Based in Miami, Florida, and operating at various airfields around South Florida, Embry-Riddle trained 25,000 British and American pilots and mechanics.
In 1965, Embry-Riddle relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida, establishing a residential campus adjacent to the city airport. The year 1970 was an eventful one, as Embry-Riddle achieved university status and began opening education centers at military bases under the umbrella of the division now known as the Worldwide Campus. Embry-Riddle established another residential campus, in Prescott, Arizona, in 1978.
Embry-Riddle enrolled more than 31,300 students in the 2022-23 academic year, offering more than 100 degrees at the associate, bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. level in the following areas: aviation; applied science; business; computers and technology; engineering; security, intelligence and safety; and space.
Additional Embry-Riddle statistics may be found on the Institutional Research website.