Our Heritage

Our History

AUVSI was founded more than 50 years ago as the National Association for Remotely Piloted Vehicles (NARP-V) by a group of U.S. Air Force officers and defense contractors at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Their vision focused on the potential of the systems that would eventually be known as UAVs.

While we’ve expanded our focus to include commercial and civil use cases, the defense sector remains a pillar of our community and key to our work.

Our Names

Over the last 50+ years, AUVSI’s name has evolved to support the evolution of our dynamic industry:

  • 1972 – 1978 National Association for Remotely Piloted Vehicles (NARP-V)
  • 1978 – 1996 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVS)
  • 1996 – 2022 Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)
  • 2022 – Present Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI)

In 2022, AUVSI membership voted in favor of changing the Association’s name from “Unmanned” to “Uncrewed” to reflect ongoing efforts to promote gender inclusivity.

Previous Leadership

AUVSI thanks our esteemed leadership for their valuable contributions to our community and work to shape our industry’s future. with our new board as we shape our industry's future.

*Board members dating back to 2015.

  • David Agnew
  • Amanda Armistead
  • Michelle Avary
  • Peter Bale
  • Grant Begley
  • Sean Bielat
  • Mark Blanks
  • Dan Brintzinghoffer
  • Dallas Brooks
  • John Burke
  • Nevin Carr
  • Brian Chappel
  • Peter Cleveland
  • John “JC” Coffey
  • Greg Davis
  • Thomas Dingus
  • Gene Fraser
  • Bala Ganesh
  • Dyan Gibbens
  • Marke (Hoot) Gibson
  • Ben Gielow
  • Mark Gordon
  • Jason Grabinsky
  • Todd Graetz
  • Kristen Griffin
  • Bobby Hambrick
  • Rob Hess
  • Orin Hoffman
  • Neil Hunter
  • William Irby
  • Heather James
  • Brent Klavon
  • John Lademan
  • John Lambert
  • Rand LeBouvier
  • Leonard Ligon
  • Frank LoBiondo
  • Jeff Lovin
  • Alan Lytle
  • Lauren McCollum
  • Paul McDuffee
  • Sergio Menchaca
  • Ben Miller
  • Houston Mills
  • Stewart Moorehead
  • Suzanne Murtha
  • Waseem Naqvi
  • Scott Newbern
  • Stephen Newton
  • Steven Nordlund
  • Chad Partridge
  • Steven Pennington
  • Craig Perciavalle
  • David Place
  • Wayne Prender
  • Jeff Ratcliffe
  • Tom Reynolds
  • Susan Roberts
  • David Rottblatt
  • Brendan Schulman
  • Dave Seagle
  • Ann Stevens
  • Bobby Sturgell
  • Jim Thomsen
  • Ron Tremain
  • Dave Vos
  • Mat Winter
  • Suzy Young