![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chaminda-S.-Prelis.jpg\")
Prelis comes to MTSU from the University of Dubuque in\nDubuque, Iowa, where he was most recently the director of aviation programs\nafter also having served as the program\u2019s head of academics as well as an\nassistant and associate professor during his 12 years there. Prelis takes the\nreins of the MTSU program effective Aug. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMTSU clearly has one of the top aerospace programs in\nthe nation, so maintaining its high quality is essential,\u201d said MTSU President\nSidney A. McPhee. \u201cBringing on someone of Dr. Prelis\u2019 caliber and experience\nwill help us continue to produce the highly trained pilots and other aviation\nprofessionals who are providing the workforce of the present and future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prelis earned his master\u2019s and bachelor\u2019s degrees in\naviation from the University of North Dakota and also holds a commercial pilot\ncertificate from the Federal Aviation Administration. He has a doctorate in\nbusiness administration from Northcentral University in San Diego, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur Aerospace program has a lot of moving parts \u2014 both\nliterally and figuratively \u2014 and is home to the most undergraduate majors of\nany department,\u201d MTSU Provost Mark Byrnes said. \u201cWe worked hard to hire the\nbest leader we could, and I am very pleased that Chaminda will be joining us in\nthat role.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professionally, Prelis worked in various management roles\nfor Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines before joining the faculty at the\nUniversity of Dubuque. He comes to a signature MTSU program that boasts 20\nfull-time faculty members, 100-plus flight instructors and more than 1,000 majors,\nplacing it among the largest of the nation’s collegiate aviation programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am excited by the opportunity to work with an\nexceptionally talented team of individuals within the Aerospace Department,\u201d\nPrelis said. \u201cMoreover, I look forward to meeting the students, supporting\ntheir goals, and preparing them for future challenges.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prelis takes over for MTSU aerospace professor and former\nchair Wendy Beckman, who is returning to teaching full time after shepherding\nthe program through a dynamic period of growth, from upgrades to its fleet\nhoused at Murfreesboro Airport to additions of state-of-the-art flight\nsimulators to renovations of instructional space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWendy has been an excellent chair, leading the\ndepartment through a time of tremendous growth and adroitly handling a variety\nof complex issues that came her way,\u201d Byrnes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MTSU\u2019s Aerospace program offers six concentrations:\naviation management, aerospace technology, flight dispatch, maintenance\nmanagement, professional pilot, and unmanned aircraft systems operations. A\nmaster’s degree in aeronautical science, with concentrations in aviation\neducation, aviation management, and aviation safety and security management is\nalso offered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the above concentrations, the Aerospace\nDepartment offers an Air Traffic Control add-on program, which allows graduates\nto be recommended to the FAA for air traffic controller training and hiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more information about MTSU\u2019s Aerospace Department,\ngo to https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/aerospace\/.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Middle Tennessee State University has named experienced aviation professor Chaminda S. Prelis as the new chair of its nationally recognized Department of Aerospace. Prelis comes to MTSU from the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa, where he was most recently the director of aviation programs after also having served as the program\u2019s head of academics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation-education","category-tennessee"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18785,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18783\/revisions\/18785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}