Grant to Florida Tech Library Opens Access to Special Collection

– A $9,000 gift to Florida Tech’s Evans Library will digitize and make available on-line the contents of the library’s Edwin A. Link Special Collection.
The gift comes from Florida Tech trustees Marilyn C. Link and Dr. Andrew Clark, and the Link Foundation.

The collection contains many personal papers, maps, charts, correspondence and blueprints of Edwin A. Link (1904-1981), an inventor, aviator and
industrialist. He invented the first successful flight simulator, the Link Trainer, and designed the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s
Johnson-Sea-Link class submersibles. Link also founded the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in 1971.

“This gift will further Ed Link’s legacy worldwide and for all time,” said Florida Tech Dean of Libraries, Dr. Celine Lang.

Marilyn, Link’s sister, is Special Advisor to the Link Foundation, and Director Emeritus of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. She resides in
Vero Beach. “Ed always believed in helping young people with their education,” she said.

Clark, founder and president of Harris Maritime Communications Services, is an international leader in marine technology research and development. He is on
the Link Foundation Board of Trustees and is an adjunct professor at Florida Tech.

The Link Foundation was established in 1953 by Edwin and his wife, Marion Clayton Link. The foundation makes grants to qualified nonprofit organizations
interested in the mastery of the air and sea, and the development of energy resources and their conservation, and in simulation and training.