Greg Anderson

Greg, the oldest of five children, grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He fondly recalls

Sunday afternoon car rides that often ended at the Waukesha County Airport. The

family would spend hours watching airplanes taking off and landing. In 1968 Anderson

received an appointment to the Air Force Academy. Following graduation and pilot

training, Lieutenant Anderson was assigned to the Strategic Air Command’s 380 th Bomb

Wing located at Plattsburg AFB. New York. Flying the Boing KC-135 “Stratotanker”, first

as copilot then eventually as Aircraft Commander, Greg supported the air war over

Vietnam flying numerous “Young Tiger” missions and the Mayaguez Rescue Operation.

LtCol Anderson left the Air Force and returned home to Wisconsin in 1979. Greg served

for three years as Executive Director of the Wausau Area Chamber of Commerce then a

two-year stint serving on Governor Dreyfus staff. In that role, Greg attended his first

EAA Annual Fly-in and Convention, now EAA AirVenture.

The next year, 1983, Anderson joined the EAA serving as Director of Development, then

Vice President of Development and finally Executive Vice President of the EAA Aviation

Foundation. Greg served the EAA for 21 years and was involved in the following

initiatives: Wings on Dreams, which funded the museum opening and four expansions;

Pioneer Airport; EAA Air Academy; Compass Hill; Memorial Wall; and the Young Eagles

Program.

In 2003, the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum located in Denver,

recruited Greg to become their President and CEO effective April 2004. He immediately

went to work fund raising for an expansion of the museum to include a second site, new

and expanded exhibits and created Exploration of Flight, an aerospace exploration

campus.

Anderson remains active in aviation since retiring from Wings Over the Rockies. He

recently headed an effort to create a tribute to Tom Poberezny that included a life-size

bronze sculpture and a scholarship in Tom’s name. A good day will find Greg talking up

aviation to a Young Eagle or flying with one in his Lockwood AirCam over Wisconsin’s

lakes and forests.