Wally Funk graduated first in her flight training class at Stephens College, and went on to excel in the flying curriculum at Oklahoma State University. At age 20, she was the first woman ever hired to flight instruct at Fort Still, Oklahoma. In the 1960s, Wally was one of 25 women chosen to undergo preliminary astronaut testing. In 1971, she became the first female FAA inspector and, in 1973, became the first female in the FAA's System Airworthiness Analysis Program. Wally moved on to the NTSB in 1974, where she became one of the Board's first female air safety investigators. She has more than 19,000 hours and has taught 3,000 students how to fly. Wally has continued to dream of going to space. In 2012, she put money down to be one of the first people to fly into space via Virgin Galactic.