Lear was the wife and confidante of inventor and aircraft designer, William Lear. When her husband died in 1978, Moya Lear assumed leadership of his then  Reno-based company. Neither an engineer or businesswoman, Lear claimed she learned from her husband “by osmosis.” Lear has served on President Reagan’s International Private Enterprise Task Force, and the Board of Directors of both Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Nevada. She has received honorary law degrees and industry recognitions for her professional and humanitarian work.