‘About Those Links’ To Explore Innovation, Impact of Link Family
Free Public Event Sept. 18 at Florida Tech’s Evans Library
MELBOURNE, FLA. — The extraordinary Link family – Edwin A. Link, an inventor and the “father of simulation;” his wife Marion, a journalist; and his sister Marilyn, a long-time Florida Institute of Technology trustee – is the subject of an afternoon event Friday, Sept. 18, that will feature greetings from Marilyn Link, multimedia presentations and more.
The free public event, “About Those Links,” runs from 2-4:30 p.m. in the lobby of Evans Library on the Florida Tech campus. Also scheduled to speak are Andrew Clark, a trustee with the Link Foundation, and Donna Wilt, a professor in the College of Aeronautics and a special advisor to the Link Foundation and manager of its Modeling, Simulation and Training Fellowships.
Edwin Link’s work included his development of the Link flight simulator, also known as the “Blue Box,” which trained thousands of airmen during World War II. He later focused on sea exploration and submersibles. Marion Link earned a journalism degree and later shifted her focus to the underwater realm, the topic of her acclaimed books, Sea Diver from 1959, and 1973’s Windows in the Sea.
And Marilyn Link, a member of the Florida Tech Board of Trustees since 1984, was the first manager of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, founded by Seward Johnson Sr. in 1971 in Fort Pierce. She currently serves as director emerita. Edwin Link helped Johnson develop the Institute and served as a vice president.
It was Edwin Link’s research in submersibles that brought him to live and work near the warm Florida waters. He would spend the final period of his life developing powerful submersibles that provided the means for deep underwater exploration. The Link Foundation was established in 1953 and has awarded more than $14 million to programs that assist young research scholars.
Edwin Link’s interest in higher education and research led to a close association with the Florida Institute of Technology. The university’s founding president, Jerry Keuper, awarded both Seward Johnson and Edwin Link honorary doctorate degrees in 1970.
The Link Building on the Florida Tech campus, home of the Department of Marine and Environmental Systems, is named in his honor. Marion Link endowed the Library Information NetworK, or LINK. The Evans Library’s Link Room was established for faculty and students to have a technologically advanced presentation room. And the library is proud to house important documents in the Edwin A. and Marion Link Special Collection.
The collection may be examined virtually at http://lib.fit.edu/digital-collections/.
For more information on “About Those Links” or to RSVP, please contact Associate Dean of Libraries Kathy Turner at kturner@fit.edu or 321-674-8839.
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