Remembering John

Your gift today will impact future aviators in immeasurable ways.

Shortly after John Hauser’s death, his family established the John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Initiative Fund, which provides steady support for mental health efforts and increases the capacity to affect change. Your gift supports UND students and helps establish a national model for best practices regarding mental health in aviation. Other flight training organizations look to these practices for guidance and program implementation.

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Mental Health Resources for Aviators

The University of North Dakota is committed to using gifts made to the John A. Hauser Mental health in Aviation Initiative Fund to support mental health in aviation through the following initiatives:

Aviation Mental Health Symposium

Since its inaugural event in 2021, UND has been involved in planning and hosting this annual event that brings together mental health and aviation professionals from across the nation to discuss and strategize mental health solutions in the industry.

The 2023 Aviation Mental Health Symposium was held November 1-2, 2023, at Middle Tennessee State University. Three representatives from UND attended the Symposium, including two students and an embedded licensed psychology associate from the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences.

John Hauser funds were used to make this event free for attendees and bring in keynote speakers to continue the national conversation around mental health in the aviation industry. 

UpLift Peer Support Program

UpLift is a student-led program at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences that offers mental health support to aviation students from their own peers. It’s the first of its kind for an educational aviation institution.

Since it launched in November 2022,  more than 14 peers have been trained and over a dozen mental health requests have already been met by an UpLift peer. In May of 2023, UpLift leadership sat on a panel to present the program at the annual conference of the Aerospace Medical Association.

The John A. Hauser Mental Health in Aviation Initiative Fund is also helping news of the UpLift program spread across the world. From Nov. 6-8, 2023, UpLift representatives presented at the International Pilot Peer Assist Coalition (IPPAC) conference in Cologne, Germany. Attendees from across the world expressed interest in starting a similar program in their training organizations. In turn, UND attendees took away ideas on how to improve UpLift services for international and contract aviation students.

John Hauser funds were used to fly students to these conferences.

Green Bandana Project

John Hauser funds were used to purchase green bandanas that serve as a symbol: those wearing them are trained and open to talk about mental health. Through this campus-wide project, hundreds of UND students have been trained to offer mental health peer support. Plans are underway to train more. 

About John

John Alan Hauser of Chicago passed away on October 18, 2021 after 19 years of a joy- and love-filled life. He was active in basketball, baseball, and piano early in his life and made the honor roll at Northside College Prep High School in Chicago. John developed a passion for rowing and joined the Chicago Rowing Foundation team, where he made many close friends. After graduating from high school, he pursued his second passion, a love of flying, by majoring in commercial aviation at the University of North Dakota, where he also enjoyed the camaraderie of his Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers.
 
John lived with integrity and was fearless in speaking out about what mattered to him. He made friends easily and then was steadfastly loyal to them, demonstrating his love through actions as well as words. Hard work came naturally to him at a young age, and neighbors will recall the early morning rhythmic scraping of his snow shovel moving slowly up and down the block. Later, he moved on to jobs such as umpiring, delivering food, scooping ice cream, and finally working as a health aid. In between school, work and flying, he found time to enjoy long road trips with his friends or family to National Parks.
 
Adapted from John Hauser’s obituary published on dignitymemorial.com

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