Hesston College Vice President of Academics Sandra Zerger announced the appointment of Richard Binkley to the new position of Aviation Operations Manager.

Binkley will serve the college’s aviation department through financial planning and management, fleet management, curriculum oversight and classroom and flight instruction. He began his role February 11.

“We added this new role in response to a need that grew out of growth in the aviation program following the addition of Air Traffic Control in 2010,” said Zerger. “Richard will play a key role in ensuring student success in aviation by scheduling student flights, maintaining the planes and handling the budget.”

Binkley earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and a master of aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide (Atlanta, Ga.) with a specialization in aviation and aerospace management. He is a FAA-certified flight instructor with instrument and multiengine ratings. He also has extensive classroom teaching experience in flight school, high school and college environments.

Prior to transitioning to Hesston College, Binkley was a high school advanced placement computer science instructor at the Georgia Institute of Technology Operation Reboot (Atlanta). His aviation experience includes serving as chief pilot, flight and ground instructor and FAA test center supervisor for FlightGest Aviation in Raleigh, N.C., for 11 years.

Hesston College Aviation offers two-year degree instruction in flight and air traffic control. Flight students earn certification in single-engine land private pilot, commercial pilot, instrument and multi-engine rating and fixed-wing private pilot through airline transport pilot. Air Traffic Control was added as a plan of study in 2010 as part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative and is the only program in Kansas and one of 36 nationwide with FAA approval.