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Dear
Fellow
College
of Aeronautics
Alumni,
It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Ken
Stackpoole as the new Dean of the
College
of
Aeronautics
.
Dr.
Stackpoole comes to Florida Tech as the next step in his 25-year
career in aviation education with Embry Riddle, where he began as
a flight instructor in 1981. He has a demonstrated history
of success in each of his roles, including Chairman of the Flight
Training Department, Director of Business Development for the
Southeast SATS
lab, Special Assistant to the President and, most recently, Vice
President for Government Relations for ERAU.
He
arrives for work on February 9, and based on my brief time with
him during the interview process, he comes to the COA with his
eyes wide open and recognition that there is much to be done.
That was said early on, so by taking the job he obviously feels he
is up to the task!
Several
fellow COA alums and I were encouraged to participate in the dean
candidate interview process, which began last summer. While
I was the only alum who could meet with Dr. Stackpoole on the day
he interviewed, I came away with a personal belief that he was the
best person for the job. Other COA alums who know Dr.
Stackpoole on a professional level very proactively followed up
both with him and the University administration to let them know
their feelings on the match.
The
result is before us, and it is the beginning of a new effort, not
the ending of one.
As
we all know, the challenges in both the aviation industry and
educational environment are great and ever changing. The
University administration has pledged its full support going
forward and there are terrific new developments right around the
corner, starting with the new Emil Buehler Aviation Training
Facility at
Melbourne
Int’l
Airport
, which will begin construction this year.
Stay
tuned for more information soon, but don’t go far. Ken
Stackpoole is not a one-person solution to all that ails and
challenges the
College
of
Aeronautics
—he’s the guy carrying the torch. Only a collective
effort from our new Dean, the University administration, the
College’s faculty and students and the Alumni can take
our College to the level we all know it can achieve.
Best
regards to all,
Milo
M. Zonka, CFP
President,
FITSA Alumni Network
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