Stewart A. Mercer was born in New York City on July 20, 1938. His passion for, and contributions to, the world of commercial aviation are the contributing factors to his being listed in the National Air & Space Museum's Wall of Honor.

Stewart attended Haaron High School and Aviation Trades and later, studied aircraft engineering structures at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He served his country in the U.S. Air Force, M.A.T.S. from 1955-1957 and was a weight and balance specialist on the C-124 Globemaster.

He began his professional career as operations manager for World Wide Helicopters in Tripoli, Libya. World Wide Helicopters was the primary air logistics support for ARAMCO. From 1957 through 1964, Stewart was responsible for the planning, logistics and dispatching of aircraft throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

Stewart also served as an interiors and safety systems engineer for San Diego Aircraft Engineering in San Diego, California. From 1964 until 1967, he worked for Brownline / Tridair Industries in Torrance, California and was a liaison between subcontractors and airlines, supporting the Boeing B727 Program. He served an additional 2 years as Program Administrator for Irvin Industries from their Gardena, California offices.

From 1969 until 1977 he sold air cargo equipment, hydraulic pumps, automatic test equipment and thermoformed plastics for Systems Development Company - International Airline Equipment, Inc. and served an additional 2 years as the Marketing Manager for Aero-Craft Hydraulics in Torrance, California selling engine-driven and motor-driven hydraulic pumps for jet transport category aircraft.

In 1979 Stewart moved to Denver, Colorado. One year later, he established Air Support International - an independent FAA certified repair station. ASI completed electronic, pneumatic and hydraulic component overhaul. In August of 1984 he sold Air Support International to Aero Systems and moved to their Miami headquarters, where he continued to serve as Vice President of Sales until 1988.

In the late 1980's Stewart moved his family to Dallas, Texas where as Vice President of Marketing / Sales for Caribe Aviation, he sold avionics and accessory services to airlines and maintenance organizations, world wide. In 1990 Stewart established Radomes, Inc. and as President, represented Norton Performance Plastics in Ravena, Ohio.

In 1993 he establish a commercial aircraft parts distribution company called AV-EX, Aviation Excellence providing commercial aircraft spares to a customer base of over 260 airlines and more than 85 maintenance organizations in 60 countries on 6 continents.

As a pilot, Stewart has over 4800 hours in various aircraft, including the T-35, 7ECA, PA32, CU206, GC1B, B24R, C-177, C182, C210, and a B-A36. His Professional Affiliations and Honors include AOPA, AIAA, Phi Eta Rho, the U.S. Parachute Association and the Flight Safety Foundation. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Noelle.