Aviation Management Faculty | Aviation and Automotive | SIU

Gail Avendaño holds a Master of Education degree from Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah where she served as the Director of Aviation Student Support for over twenty years. She joined the SIU Aviation Management faculty in fall 2021 and teaches career development, writing, and research courses (AVM 305, 301, and 300). Her work also focuses on curriculum design, assessment, and accreditation.

Applied research interests include industry relations best practices and factors that impact student success. She serves the larger aviation community as a Board of Trustee Educator Member and Visiting Team Chair for the Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI) and serves on various working groups and committees for AABI and the University Aviation Association (UAA).

James "Jamie" Bates comes to SIU Aviation after a 15 year career at The Boeing Company, during which he served in multiple leadership roles including a stint as the Program Manager of T-38C Avionics Upgrade Program.  In addition to his time on T-38, Jamie was a member of the Boeing Defense F-15 Leadership Team, where he oversaw special projects to the advancement of the F-15 platform domestically and abroad.  Prior to his time at Boeing, Jamie served in the US Air Force as a lead crew chief and recovery specialist on the A-10 Thunderbolt II and the MQ-1A Predator.

Jamie is a graduate of the SIU Aviation Management Program and holds a Master's Degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Aviation Flight

Bryan Harrison holds a Master of Science in Education and Master of Business Administration.  He joined the SIU faculty in 2003 and teaches courses in aviation weather, security, research, leadership, and organizational theory.  As a practicing FAA Certified Flight Instructor since 2002, he instructed numerous students toward initial and advanced flight certificates and ratings.

Mr. Harrison currently serves as the Director of Graduate Studies for the Aviation Management program, Talon ETA Administrator, Restricted-ATP coordinator, and Chair of the Aviation Management and Flight Scholarship Committee.

His research interests include student success and transition to technology in aviation.

Peter Merlin accepted an NTT faculty position at SIU Carbondale’s School of Aviation in January after serving as program assistant for Aviation Management and Flight since August 2021.

Born in Hollywood, California, Merlin chose not to follow his parents showbusiness career path after developing an interest in aviation at a very young age. In fact, his earliest memory of airplanes is that of visiting the cockpit of a Varig Airlines DC‑8 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) when he was just two years old. After earning an undergraduate degree in Aviation Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1987, he spent more than nine years working as a station agent for Skywest Airlines at Burbank Airport and LAX.

Merlin’s golden opportunity came when he was offered a contract position at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. For the next two decades, he worked as a historian and public affairs specialist, as well as supporting NASA education and aviation safety programs. During that time, he authored numerous peer-reviewed research papers and books on aerospace history and technology. He left NASA in 2017 and spent the next three years supporting Air Force flight test and evaluation programs at Edwards. “I mostly helped project engineers write their test plans and final reports,” Merlin said. “These reports provide an unbiased assessment to defense acquisition decision makers and other stakeholders all the way down to warfighters in the field.”

He and his wife, Sarah (an SIU alumnus), left California for Illinois in June 2020. “I spent a year finishing a couple of books,” he explained, “and Sarah got a job as a substitute teacher at Carbondale High School.” After being hired by SIU, Merlin enrolled in the Aviation Management graduate program. He will receive his Master’s degree in December.

A recognized subject matter expert in several fields, Merlin has appeared in more than a dozen film and television documentaries on the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and others. His interests include Cold War history, space exploration, aviation archaeology, fossils, prehistoric cave paintings and petroglyphs, archaeoastronomy, and the mysterious world of top-secret “black” projects. His most recent book is Dreamland: The Secret History of Area 51.

Dr. Irene Miller is an Assistant Professor in the School of Aviation. She holds an Ed.D. in Aviation and Space – Applied Educational Studies from Oklahoma State University, and her academic path includes a Master of Science in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota and a Bachelor of Science in Aviation from The Ohio State University.

Dr. Miller teaches a range of courses, including General Aviation Operations, Airport Management, and Aviation Management Research. She has conducted research and published on topics related to human performance, pilot mental health, and pedagogical techniques within collegiate aviation programs.