Iris Cummings

Iris Cummings
Cummings c. 1944
Born	(1920-12-21)December 21, 1920 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	January 24, 2025(2025-01-24) (aged 104) Claremont, California, U.S.
Other names	Iris Cummings Critchell
Occupation(s)	Competitive swimmer, aviator
Known for	Last surviving participant of the 1936 Summer Olympics, co-founder and director of Bates Aeronautics Program at Harvey Mudd College
Height	5 ft 4.5 in (164 cm)
Spouse	Howard Critchell ​ ​ (m. 1944; died 2015)​
Children	2

Iris Cummings (December 21, 1920 – January 24, 2025), also known by her married name Iris Critchell, was an American aviator and competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. After an active athletic career in swimming, which included a reign as U.S. national 200-meter breaststroke champion from 1936 to 1939, she was accepted into the University of Southern California's first Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1939. After graduation, she worked as a flight instructor prior to being selected to serve her country during World War II as a member of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Following the conflict, she returned to California, where she developed and taught a curriculum on civilian flight for veterans returning from the war at the University of Southern California.

After racing aeroplanes competitively during the 1950s, Cummings and her husband, Howard Critchell founded the Bates Aeronautics program at Harvey Mudd College in 1962. They ran it together until he retired in 1979, at which point she continued alone until the program's end in 1990. A long-time certified FAA Pilot Examiner, she was the recipient of several international aviation awards and was a member of the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame. In her later years, she remained active as a lecturer, consultant, and curator of the Aeronautical Library Special Collections at Harvey Mudd.