The Lincoln Gries Distinguished Alumni Award is presented on Alumni Day to a former Old Trail student who has made an important contribution or given extraordinary service to others in some field, as a professional or as a volunteer.

Award Guidelines: Nominees must have attended Old Trail School; contributed to their community and/or to the betterment of others; earned the respect of both Old Trail alumni and future Old Trail students, and shown a continued loyalty to Old Trail School.

Kim Paradis Coryat '75 - 2009 Recipient

Kim’s interest in flying began at an early age. She explains, “Flying is in my blood. I started by sitting on my Dad’s lap in our family airplane, and moved on to pumping gas in return for flying lessons at a commuter airline.” Kim had her pilot’s license before going off to college where she received a degree in mathematics. After college she began working in weather research at the National Hurricane Center and NOAA’s Air Operations. She even flew an Air Force Hurricane Hunter C-130 – an aircraft capable of such duties as weather reconnaissance, fire-fighting, disaster relief missions and more.

After serving 20 years in the Air Force, a career that has taken her all around the globe, Kim is now a retired Major. She lives in Olive Branch, Mississippi with her husband, John, and one-year-old daughter, Catherine, and cares for her elderly mother. She is currently a pilot for FedEx, flying MD11s and working in the company’s flight safety office where she makes things better and safer for her co-workers.

Kim volunteers with the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) and IFALPA - domestic and international labor unions - as a representative to the branch of the United Nations and to a U.S. government safety effort called the Commercial Air Safety Team. She is also a volunteer board member for a wildlife rescue charity in her area.

Kim has fond memories of her days at Old Trail School and explains, “My Old Trail education has been the base from which I have built my career. Dr. Kimball’s physics and math classes inspired my scientific pursuits and provided the foundation for understanding meteorology and aerodynamics. Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Cameron and Mrs. Beale provided a wonderful foundation in English so that I can not only fly but communicate effectively in the cockpit as well as in written documents (I write articles for our safety magazine as well as have written numerous scientific and aviation research papers and reports). My OTS history classes are with me as I wander through Pompeii, the Pyramids and every cathedral in Europe. Ms. Foutz and Mrs. Taipale sparked my love of French and my desire to visit France as frequently as possible. The curiosity, self-discipline and independent thinking required of students at Old Trail are gifts that have graced my entire life.”