Starman
o appreciate Dan Fennessy’s (SCPS ’24) life and legacy, look to the skies.
As a child, Fennessy was captivated by astronomy and his dream of flying. Having achieved that goal, he helps others explore the cosmos through his support of the McCormick Observatory.
One of six siblings, Fennessy grew up sharing a bedroom with his three brothers in public housing in Waterbury, Connecticut, four miles from Plymouth Airport, a small airfield with a grass runway. “At 14, I started walking there,” he said. “I kept badgering the folks up there until they hired me.” Fennessy mowed the grass and ran small errands, spending 70 hours a week at the airstrip.
“The pay was really, really poor,” said Fennessy, “but I could fly for free. I had a pilot’s license before I could legally drive a car.”
He learned to fly on a 1946 Aeronca Champ. “It was a two-seat steel tube with a fabric skin for the fuselage. It had a 65-horsepower engine and no electrical system,” he said. “So, if you've ever seen the movies, we had to pull on the prop to start it. I could fly that for an hour for six dollars.”
I had a pilot’s license before I could legally drive a car.
— Dan Fennessy
Fennessy enrolled in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s flight program but had to transfer out of the major because of the high cost. He studied computer programming and finance instead.
He had planned to become an aviator for the U.S. Navy through the Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate program. But an economic downturn had slowed admissions, and the pilots at Plymouth Airport encouraged him to look elsewhere.
Fennessy became a corporate pilot and was flying for TWA when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. He joined the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, which supports Department of Defense air transport operations in emergencies.
“I spent several months living in Rome and flying troops to the desert,” said Fennessy, “then went back to corporate flying.”
Fennessy has now been flying planes and managing aviation for the same private company for over 25 years. It was through his employer that he came to know the University of Virginia. His connection deepened when he participated in a corporate aviation management training program at the Darden School of Business. He was on Grounds for one of these courses when he first visited the McCormick Observatory.
Dan Fennessy in front of the historic McCormick Refractor. The telescope was dedicated on April 13, 1885, and, at the time, was the largest telescope in the United States and the second largest lens telescope in the world. The telescope has been in continuous use by the Astronomy Department for 140 years. From 1914 until 1994 it was used to measure the distances to, and motions of, thousands of nearby stars. Since 1994, the Observatory has been used by the astronomy department for undergraduate and graduate education and for outreach to the local community.
“I’ve been into astronomy since I was a young kid,” Fennessy said. “I ground a mirror for a Newtonian reflector when I was high school.” He was fascinated by the McCormick Observatory’s history, and he reached out to the Astronomy Department to see if he could schedule a visit. Ed Murphy, professor and associate department chair, invited Fennessy to a Dark Skies, Bright Kids outreach program. “He was so generous with his time,” remembered Fennessy, “He hung around for a couple of hours after the program. I was like a kid in a candy store.”
Fennessy began making gifts to support the observatory and will leave the bulk of his estate to sustain its operations and programming. He recognizes the value of the Observatory as the home of the Astronomy Department’s outreach programs. “McCormick fills a niche in that way—to get kids into the sciences and math,” he said. “It’s a big motivator to be able to go and get hands-on experience with something like that.”
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It’s the reason I donate to UVA. Looking back all these years later, I realize the impact that can have on someone. And so I'm a really big believer in mentoring and helping people out.
— Dan Fennessy
Fennessy also supports the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, where he recently earned his master’s degree in public safety. The MPS was an extension of the emergency medicine certifications he has completed for his work as a part-time paramedic for a commercial ambulance in Waterbury, CT. “You’re with people on what is probably the worst day of their lives,” he said. “It feels like you’re actually accomplishing something.”
While saving lives and taking to the air are all in a week’s work for Fennessy, gratitude keeps him grounded. “The mentoring I received from the working pilots at Plymouth Airport—which I definitely didn’t appreciate at the time—made all the difference in what came after,” he said. “It’s the reason I donate to UVA. Looking back all these years later, I realize the impact that can have on someone. And so I'm a really big believer in mentoring and helping people out.”