{"id":66150,"date":"2019-04-18T11:52:24","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T15:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=66150"},"modified":"2022-09-29T11:42:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T15:42:50","slug":"ahead-of-her-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2019\/04\/18\/ahead-of-her-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of her time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter dancing at the Golden Gate \u2028International Exposition in 1939 at San Francisco\u2019s Treasure Island. (Photo courtesy of Wright State University Archives)<\/p><\/div>\n

If there was ever a role model for American women,<\/span> it\u2019s Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter. Dancer, pilot, inventor, philanthropist. Nutter has done it all.<\/p>\n

That drive to make the most out of life began when Nutter was a young girl in Medford, Oregon. Determined to learn ballet, Nutter began taking lessons from a dance teacher who lived across the street. When she turned 18, she moved to San Francisco to begin a career as a professional dancer.<\/p>\n

Nutter became a member of the San Francisco Ballet and later landed a job as the theme girl of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on nearby Treasure Island. As she traveled across the country promoting the exposition, Nutter was so frequently photographed that Life magazine dubbed her \u201cthe most photographed girl in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those cross-country treks took place on trains, automobiles, and airplanes. During a time when few American men \u2014 let alone women \u2014 were flying on commercial airlines, Nutter was flying the friendly skies from coast to coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never was scared,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutter became so enamored with flying that she earned her pilot\u2019s license. When it came time to test for her multi-engine instrument rating, Nutter went to Midway airport in Chicago, regarded by pilots as the most challenging airport to earn a rating. She knew that if she earned her rating at Midway, it would earn her more respect as a woman in the male-dominated field of aviation.<\/p>\n

Nutter also served as a spokesperson for Piper Aircraft, logging more than 100,000 miles as she promoted air transportation all over the world. During a business trip to Dayton, she met Ervin J. Nutter, the owner of Elano Corporation, which made tubing and engine components for the aerospace industry. She married Nutter in 1965.<\/p>\n

Nutter directed promotions for Elano\u2019s small aircraft division and served as one of the company\u2019s pilots. She also spearheaded the development of a new manifold, hiring the engineers who helped redesign it.<\/p>\n

When she took the manifold to the Reading Air Show, someone told her, \u201cThat\u2019s the best replacement part we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nutter\u2019s contributions to the world of aviation have enabled her to meet many other pioneers in the field. She served for years on the Board of Trustees for the National Aviation Hall of Fame and was the organization\u2019s first female president. In 2008, she was inducted as a Living Legend of Aviation.<\/p>\n

Nutter recalled the first time she met another Living Legend of Aviation, John Travolta. As a young boy, Travolta was traveling with his mother and encountered Nutter in an airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was such a cute kid and a gentleman,\u201d Nutter remembered. She and Travolta still keep in touch and remain friends to this day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nutter holds her pink ballet slippers, displayed in a small glass case, worn during her days with the San Francisco Ballet. \u2028(Photo by Jennifer Buckwalter)<\/p><\/div>\n

Nutter\u2019s home is filled with photos and mementos of her extraordinary life. Sitting on one bookshelf is a photo of Nutter with former First Lady Laura Bush. It was taken in 2006 on the evening Nutter received the Ford\u2019s Theatre Lincoln Medal, a prestigious honor given by the Ford\u2019s Theatre Society to those who exemplify the character of Abraham Lincoln.<\/p>\n

When Nutter first arrived in Dayton, Wright State did not yet exist as a university. As the institution grew, so did the involvement and support of Nutter and her late husband, Erv. When the university\u2019s arena first opened its doors in 1990, it was named in honor of Ervin J. Nutter.<\/p>\n

After her husband\u2019s passing in 2000, Nutter continued to be a champion for Wright State and its students. She is a generous sponsor of the university\u2019s annual ArtsGala, a scholarship fundraiser for students in the fine and performing arts.<\/p>\n

In 2017, she established the Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter Dance Scholarship<\/a> to help students studying dance at Wright State. \u201cIt\u2019s important for young people to have that opportunity,\u201d said Nutter, who enjoys coming to campus to meet her scholarship recipients and watch them rehearse.<\/p>\n

At 103, Nutter is still an inspiration to everyone she meets \u2014 from the young people pursuing a career in dance to the modern woman making her mark in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has inspired me to not put limitations on myself and to not let others put limitations on me,\u201d said Jennifer Buckwalter, assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts<\/a>. \u201cShe\u2019s shown that with some determination and passion, the sky\u2019s the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she reflected on more than a century of living, Nutter said, \u201cI did all the things I wanted to do. You have a certain amount of time you\u2019re going to be here; you might as well do it right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Zoe Dell Lantis Nutter Dance Scholarship benefits students studying dance at Wright State. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,4859,725,747,4827,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-magazine","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66150"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66634,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66150\/revisions\/66634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}