Episode 56: From the CIA to the Pan Am Board Room and Changing the World Through Music

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In this episode we are joined by Donald Devito who worked for the Pan Am board of directors from the early 1960s until the end of the airline. Also, joining us is his son, Dr. Donald DeVito, a renowned musical educator. 

The senior DeVito will share stories working for the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1950s and being hired by Pan Am in the early 1960s to work for the corporate board of directors and founder Juan T. Trippe. He was on a first name basis with Mr. Trippe and coordinated the materials and presentations for board members such as aviation legend Charles Lindbergh and banker James Rockefeller, among others. 

His hiring by Pan Am was tied to his cryptography training in the U.S. Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency where he served in the 1950s during the Cold War in Rangoon, the Philippines and Libya. 

Don’s son, the junior Dr. Donald DeVito, will share his memories of traveling around the world as a Pan Am kid and how that shaped his career in education. Dr. Don is a music educator at the Rawlings Elementary Center for Fine Arts since 2018 and is an adjunct instructor in the University of Florida Online Masters in Music Education program. 

From 2001 to 2018 he was the music director and special education teacher at the Sidney Lanier Center, a public school in Gainesville, Florida, for students with disabilities between 3 and 22. The music programs are global in scope and linked online with universities and music programs internationally through research, cooperative music making, and professional music education organizations.  

Dr. DeVito was named the 2011 National Teacher of the Year by the Council for Exceptional Children.

The elder Mr. DeVito, his sons, and their families live in Florida. They even have a rescue horse that lives on their farm affectionally named "Clipper" in honor of Pan Am! 

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A very special thanks to Mr. Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC and president of the Pan Am Historical Foundation and Pan Am Brands for their continued and unwavering support!