Robert Dean Carswell, of Midlothian, Texas, passed away July 11th. Dean was well-known in the soaring community for his many contributions to the sport. He created the Master Cross-Country program in 2000, and became the first SSA Master Insructor. Dean worked tirelessly for the SSA, serving for nine consecutive years as SSA Region 10 Director and also served as Chairman of the Board from 2004-2005. He worked with the Soaring Safety Foundation, assisting in presenting clinics throughout the country and he was also an instructor at Texas Soaring Association. For many years Dean, along with Dick Johnson, completed flight test evaluations and they authored many articles for Soaring Magazine on these results.

Dean authored the 1997 Sailplane Directory, and was in the process of completing a revised edition of the directory at the time of his death. He was honored for his accomplishments many times by the SSA with the receipt of the Eaton Trophy in 2007, as well as Exceptional Achievement Awards in 1997 and 2001.

More information pertaining to his life and many SSA accomplishments will be forthcoming in a future issue of Soaring Magazine.