Miranda Sullivan new head of SEMO Aviation operations

Miranda Sullivan was named last week as the second director of Southeast Missouri State University's Aviation operations, following the retirement of Ken Jackson.

SEMO's Bachelor of Science professional pilot degree, launched in fall 2021, receives instruction from staff of Denton, Texas-based U.S. Aviation Group.

U.S. Aviation leased 1,400-square-feet of office space at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in kicking off the program.

SEMO's program is believed to be one of 96 similar aviation programs in 37 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.

According to www.encyclopedia.com, California and Michigan have the most colleges offering aviation degrees at eight apiece.

At Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, three undergraduate degrees are offered in aviation flight, aviation management and aviation technologies.

The first federally-approved school for aeronautics in the U.S. is located at Saint Louis University's Parks College of Aviation Science. Gene Kranz, who led NASA's mission control efforts to save the doomed Apollo 13 spacecraft in 1970, is a Parks graduate.

Sullivan, a SEMO faculty member since the launch of the university's program last year, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from South Dakota State University.

SEMO's inaugural professional pilot program — in cooperation with U.S. Aviation and Cape Girardeau Regional Airport — had 36 students enrolled in its inaugural 2021-2022 academic year. Enrollment for the current year, according to a news release, stands at 58.

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