Dr. Brent Bowen .

Dr. Brent Bowen holds the University of Nebraska Foundation Distinguished Professorship in Aviation. Bowen also serves in the capacity of Director, Division of Aviation and Transportation Policy and Research, for the School of Public Administration at UNO.  He has been appointed as a Graduate Faculty Fellow of the University of Nebraska System, where he supervises the nation’s only doctoral program specializing in aviation administration.  Bowen attained his Doctorate in Higher Education and Aviation from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Oklahoma City University.  His Federal Aviation Administration certifications include Airline Transport Pilot, Certified Flight Instructor (Gold Seal), Advanced-Instrument Ground Instructor, Aviation Safety Counselor, and Aerospace Education Counselor.  Dr. Bowen's research on the development of the national Airline Quality Rating is viewed by more than 50 million people each year and is regularly featured on ABC's Good Morning America, The Cable News Network, USA Today, The Today Show, The Associated Press, the network evening news shows, and in numerous other national and international media, as well as refereed academic publications.  Dr. Bowen has in excess of 300 publications, papers, and professional program appearances to his credit.  His research interests focus on aviation applications of public productivity enhancement and marketing in the areas of service quality evaluation, safety, and student  recruitment and retention in collegiate aviation programs.  He is also well published in areas related to effective teaching and gender issues in aviation education.  Dr. Bowen is an active industry consultant, pilot, and former fixed-base operator and air carrier operator.  He has been an invited expert witness before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Operations and has served on multiple occasions as an invited speaker and panelist at the National Academy of Sciences/Transportation Research Board. Dr. Bowen served on the National Research Council Steering Group on the Small Aircraft Transportation System and was named by the FAA Administrator to a National Academy of Science study group on airspace optimization. Most recently, Bowen was named to serve on a National Academy of Science panel which will explore options to develop a future generation of transportation leaders. 

His professional affiliations include the University Aviation Association (Board Member), Council on Aviation Accreditation (Committee Chair), World Aerospace Education Organization (Past-President), International Air Transportation Research Society (Proceedings Editor and Network Committee Member), Aerospace States Association (Governor’s Delegate), Alpha Eta Rho International Aviation Fraternity, and the Nebraska Academy of Sciences.  Dr. Bowen has been recognized with awards of achievement and commendation from the American Marketing Association, the American Society of Public Administration, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Federal Aviation Administration, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the W. Frank Barton School of Business, the Travel and Transportation Research Association, University Aviation Association, World Aerospace Education Organization and others.  Additionally, Dr. Bowen has authored/co-authored numerous successful funding proposals totaling awards exceeding $20 million.  He also serves as program director and principal investigator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration funded Nebraska Space Grant Consortium and  EPSCoR Program.

Dr. Bowen's research has been published in the Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education and Research, the Collegiate Aviation Review, Journal of Air Transportation, Advances in Marketing, Business Research Methods, Journal of Public Transportation, and Public Works Management and Policy, as well as other journals, proceedings, books, research monographs, and popular press.