Cornell Professor Emeritus Alfred E. Kahn is the recipient of the 1997 Welch Pogue Award.

The award, presented by Aviation Week Group, publishers of Aviation Week & Space Technology,, honors a visionary and prominent leader's lifetime contributions to aviation. The award is named for the former chairman of the Civil Aviation Board who was a U.S. delegate to the Chicago Convention in 1944, which created the blueprint for post-World War II expansion of commercial aviation.

Kahn received the award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11.

The Robert Julius Thorne Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Cornell and a special consultant to the National Economic Research Associates, Kahn served as chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board from 1977 to 1978 and is considered to be the father of airline deregulation.

"He succeeded in demonstrating the benefits of more flexible pricing and route scheduling for both customers and U.S. airlines. His vision and actions resulted in a profound transformation of the U.S. airline industry and strongly influenced international air transportation," the award citation reads.

Kahn also served as an adviser to President Jimmy Carter on inflation and as chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability. He also chaired the New York Public Service Commission.

In 1947, Kahn joined Cornell, where he chaired the Department of Economics and served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He was named a professor emeritus in 1989.

Kahn resides in Ithaca.