Would-be architect builds wonder at Lone Star Flight Museum

Elementary students stop in their tracks beneath a Culver Dart suspended upside down from the Lone Star Flight Museum ceiling.

San Jacinto College alumna Anna Hawley loves moments like this.

She once imagined herself designing spaces as an architect. Today, as president and chief executive officer, she leads a museum where more than 100,000 visitors each year discover aviation, history, and future possibilities.

Redrawing the plan

Hawley grew up in east Houston, the fourth of five girls with parents who supported all their dreams. For Hawley, that was landscape architecture.

She started at San Jac, where she discovered she was good at math but not “architect good.”

College advisors encouraged Hawley to explore other interests while redrawing the plan. A part-time job helping with AstroWorld events piqued her interest in marketing and public relations. Soon, she switched to communications classes.

“Within those years at San Jac, I came out of this place of unknown and fear of the future — to a place where ‘You’ll find your way. You’ll figure it out,’” she said.

After finishing at San Jac in 1992, Hawley earned a communications bachelor’s degree from the University of St. Thomas and built a career in nonprofit marketing, communications, and museum leadership across Houston.

Building the vision

In 2015, two milestones happened: Hawley transitioned to private nonprofit consulting, and construction began on the Lone Star Flight Museum’s new location at Ellington Airport. She clipped the newspaper announcement, scribbling across it: “They’ll be ready for me in 2018.”

Within those years at San Jac, I came out of this place of unknown and fear of the future — to a place where ‘You’ll find your way. You’ll figure it out.’

Three years later, she met with Lt. Gen. Doug Owens, then museum president and chief executive officer, to discuss possibilities. Their “brief” meeting turned into a three-hour brainstorming session — and a job offer a week later.

Hawley hadn’t planned to be on an organization’s payroll again, but the job checked every box on her list: close to home, community-minded, and meaningful to her family.

In 2019, she joined as vice president of marketing and communications. While she didn’t have an aviation background, she knew how museums operated and learned everything she could about the historic aircraft inside the 130,000-square-foot facility.

“We’re stewards of this important Texas history,” she said. “We have to continue sharing it with current and future generations.”

Creating access

Months after Hawley joined, the pandemic shut Houston down. With large hangars ideal for social distancing, the museum was Houston’s first to reopen.

"We opened as pay-what-you-can, offering people a respite outside their homes,” she said.

Owens, Hawley, and the rest of the staff leaned into the community focus, adding new exhibits and expanding education programs to introduce students to aviation careers. From 2021 to 2023, visitors tripled, and field trips more than quadrupled.

After serving as chief marketing officer and chief operating officer, Hawley stepped into Owens’ role following his retirement in 2024, determined to build on his legacy.

Today, the museum serves thousands of students, including those from Title I schools and underserved communities who may have never considered aviation careers.

“Our staff has landed on this phrase when we talk about student visitors: ‘They cannot be what they cannot see,’” Hawley said.

The museum is about far more than planes: It’s about access and possibility.

“It’s the only museum in Houston whose exhibits fly,” she said.

Bringing people together

Since 2021, the Lone Star Flight Museum has grown by 170%, something Hawley credits to Owens’ mentorship and her staff.

“I’m completely honored to lead this team,” she said. "We are growing and making a lasting impact on so many young people."

Early in her career, Hawley believed success meant creating opportunities on her own, until mentorship changed her mind.

“I’m extremely lucky to have crossed paths with General Owens,” she said. “Now we are taking the successes and pushing toward even bigger possibilities for the future.”

I have the job I've always wanted.

Owens once asked whether Hawley had ever pictured working somewhere like the Lone Star Flight Museum.

“No,” she replied. “I thought I would design spaces that brought people together.”

Owens smiled: “You are.”

From San Jac advisors encouraging her to trust the journey to a three-star general modeling leadership, Hawley has built the place she dreamed about all along — one that brings people together and inspires them to imagine what’s possible.

“I have the job I’ve always wanted,” she said.