Caplinger Airway Science Center

October 4, 1996, marked the official dedication and grand opening of the Caplinger Airway Science Center in honor of James Thomas Caplinger. Caplinger, a 1940 graduate of Henderson and longtime member of the Board of Trustees, stated in his address that the Center gives Henderson, "the wings to fly." More than 300 dignitaries, alumni, faculty, staff, and public officials attended the dedication. President Charles Dunn thanked State Rep. Percy Malone of Arkadelphia and State Sen. Mike Ross of Prescott for their help on the legislative level. The two-story center houses administrative departments, classrooms, a flight simulation center, a meteorological lab, distance learning and testing centers, and a lecture auditorium. Classrooms have a floor-embedded cable tray system providing power and data for each student. The lobby, glass-enclosed and soaring forty feet high, acts as the project’s organizing spine, and serves as both foyer and event reception.