Jennifer Murray

Jennifer Murray (born June 1940 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a pilot. In 2000 she circumnavigated the globe in a Robinson R44 helicopter, traveling 36,000 miles in 97 days, earning her the Guinness World Record for the first helicopter circumnavigation by a woman.

In August 1997, Murray became the first woman to fly a helicopter around the world, when she co-piloted her Robinson R44 with Quentin Smith on the eastward circumnavigation.The 97-day flight was also an eastbound speed record for a piston-powered helicopter.The flight departed from Denham, UK, on 10th May 1997, and her stopover at Oakland Airport, Ca., USA on 20th July is commemorated at the Oakland Aviation Museum. On 6 September 2000, Murray became the first woman to make a solo flight around the world in a helicopter and the first person to do so without autopilot.

In 2007, Murray and co-pilot Colin Bodill became the first to land a helicopter on both North and South Poles, their second attempt.Their first, in 2003, ended in a near fatal crash in Antarctica, after Murray had just become the first woman to fly a helicopter to the South Pole.

At 71, Jennifer was an entrant for Racing the Planet Nepal, a 250 km Ultramarathon starting on 20 November 2011. She withdrew after stage two.

She is the granddaughter of Sir William Mather, the British industrialist who was chairman of Mather & Platt.

She married prominent Hong Kong businessman Simon Murray in 1966.

• Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee 2005
• The Gambia issued a postage stamp in her honour in 2004
• Royal Aero Club - 1997 Silver Medal, 2000 Britannia Trophy
• Brabazon Cup
• Harmon Trophy
• Inducted in Forest of Friendship