2 faculty members recognized as permanent professors

  • Published
  • By Ray Bowden
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Two U.S. Air Force Academy faculty members were officially recognized as permanent professors in a ceremony at Doolittle Hall Jan. 20.

Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson and Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Andrew Armacost presided over the 4 p.m. event to acknowledge Colonels Jennifer Alexander and Troy Harting, who are now able to serve as the heads of their respective departments until they retire.

Alexander will lead the Economics and Geosciences Department, and Harting will lead the Management Department.

At the ceremony, General Johnson told Alexander and Harting that said she looks to permanent professors to help lead the Academy.

"This leadership is of course integral in our Academic mission, especially as our faculty modernizes our core curriculum and finds new and innovative modes of delivery that leverage modern media, fields of study and learning methods," she said. "The mantle of leadership also covers your collaboration to strike the right balance between science, technology, engineering and math and the humanities - we need to be technologically proficient, but we lead humans who must learn how to lead others."

Congress approved Alexander's nomination in October and Harting's nomination in July.

Alexander has been on the Dean's staff here since 2011.

"I'm incredibly honored and humbled to be nominated and selected because I have such great respect for my fellow candidates," she said in an October interview. "I think I even asked 'really?' when I was told (about the nomination). I feel incredibly lucky to have this opportunity."

Harting, an Academy Class of '93 graduate, served twice on the Dean's staff, from 2000-2002 and 2011 until now.

"As a management major myself, I feel very privileged to be selected to continue the great legacy of the department," he said in July.

Armacost said Alexander and Harting are more than qualified to set the Academy standard of excellence for future permanent professor nominees.

"Their selection as permanent professors is the result of their dedication to our mission, love of learning and care for cadets," Armacost said. "I know Colonel Alexander and Colonel Harting will use their talents to further strengthen the Academy's mission of developing leaders of character."