Noted Researcher Produces Widely Quoted Annual Ranking Of Airline Quality

Dr. Brent Bowen has been selected as Dean of the College of Aviation at the Prescott, AZ, campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He comes to his new position from Purdue University, where he was Professor and Head of the Aviation Technology Department. In previous academic experience, Bowen was Professor and Chair of Aviation Science with Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology. He also directed the office of Air Transportation Policy and served as Senior Fellow with the National Center for Aviation Safety Research at Saint Louis University.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Bowen (pictured) to the Arizona Embry-Riddle family in his new role as Dean of the College of Aviation,” said Dr. Frank Ayers, Prescott Campus Chancellor. “This is a time of great opportunity in the aviation industry and we believe Dr. Bowen is just the right leader to take us into that bright future.”

Among the general public, Bowen is best known as the creator of the national Airline Quality Rating, produced annually for the past 23 years. The ranking received more than 90 million media views this year alone, boosted by his appearance on The Today Show and World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer. Bowen has authored/co-authored numerous successful grant proposals totaling more than $25 million and has over 500 publications, papers and program appearances to his credit.

His research focuses on productivity and service quality enhancement in aviation and related industries, using service quality evaluation, marketing channels and benchmarking while incorporating safety and security issues via comprehensive systems models. He also publishes in areas related to effective teaching, student recruitment and retention in collegiate aviation and higher education programs and gender issues in aviation and technology education. As an industry consultant, pilot and former fixed-base operator and scheduled air carrier operator, Bowen has been an invited expert witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations and an invited speaker and panelist for the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Transportation Research Board and other congressional and executive panels. The FAA has called on him for guidance on such topics as airspace optimization as a component of the next-generation air transportation system and the cultivation of future transportation leaders.

Bowen’s recent professional affiliations include the Aerospace States Association (governor’s delegate), Aviation Accreditation Board International (founding committee chair), International Air Transportation Research Society (network committee member), University Aviation Association (past board member) and World Aerospace Education Organization (past president).

Bowen holds an Ed.D. in Aviation Sciences and an MBA, both from Oklahoma State University. His FAA certifications include Airline Transport Pilot (Type-Rated Douglas DC-3 Second in Command), Certified Flight Instructor (Single-Engine Land, Multi-Engine Land and Instrument) with Gold Seal, Advanced-Instrument Ground Instructor, Aviation Safety Counselor and Aerospace Education Counselor.

The outgoing dean of the College of Aviation, Dr. Gary Northam, has been selected as the next president of the  Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), the accrediting body for aviation programs at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. He will continue teaching Safety Science courses at  Embry-Riddle. “We are  so very proud of Dr. Northam for all the great things he has done for this university as he assumes his new position as president of AABI, and we wish him all the best,” Ayers said.

(Image provided by ERAU)

FMI: www.erau.edu