Jiansen Wang, a graduate teaching assistant at Purdue University in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, is coming to the University of Houston-Victoria to become the first faculty member in the aviation program.

Dmitri Sobolev

“I am excited to see him come to UHV; he will bring in expertise that we never had,” said Dmitri Sobolev, professor of biology and interim dean of the UHV College of Natural & Applied Science. “The long-term plan is, I hope, by as early as Fall 2025, we can offer aviation as a major instead of a minor.”

The 88^th Texas Legislature granted the university $1,275,000 for the 2024 fiscal year and $1,805,000 for the 2025 fiscal year to support the development of an aviation minor. In addition, UHV has secured ongoing state funding for various student-serving programs. The allocated aviation funds must be utilized within a specified period, or they will be returned to the state.

“Wang’s specialty is runway management, so he is intimately familiar with airport operations, and out of all the candidates, he was the ideal one to get the program going,” Sobolev said.

Wang will arrive at UHV to begin his work in mid-August as an assistant professor of aviation to teach special topics while focusing on developing and expanding the Aviation program, Sobolev said.

Joann Olson

"We are incredibly excited to welcome our first faculty member to UHV's aviation program," said Joann Olson, UHV interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. "This initiative is a significant step forward in our commitment to providing students with education opportunities that align with industry needs."

 In Spring 2025, once the department has decided on the subject, the university is hoping to offer more classes, and by Fall 2025, will have the courses catalogued with their respective course numbers.

“I am very excited to go to Victoria,” Wang said. “One of my advisors at Purdue, Dr. Mary Johnson, grew up in Texas, and she’s been to Victoria a couple of times. She told me it’s a beautiful place to live, and I am very excited to go there and start my career.”

With many years of experience in the aviation field, Wang completed his undergraduate degree in transportation engineering at Civil Aviation University of China. While studying the multiple disciplines in transportation, Wang said he began to key in on aviation.

He went on to Purdue University, where he undertook his master’s program in aviation aerospace management and is currently finishing up his Ph.D. in technology aviation. His Ph.D. defense date is scheduled in June, and he is expecting everything to be done before July, he said. Over the years, he has been heavily involved in airline operations and airport management.

Jiansen Wang

“I am really into airplanes. During my undergrad years, our university was right next to an international airport, and we could see the planes going above our heads pretty much all the time,” Wang said. “That was when my interest in aviation really grew; I was really interested in how they operate and how they manage such huge amounts of traffic and how the staff in the airport manage everything.”

As an incoming assistant professor, Wang said he plans to keep focusing on his research while concentrating on airport operations and management. He will use industrial engineering tools to find new ways to keep airports cleaner and more efficient while using statistical analysis and engineering to set healthy stands to make airports more sustainable.

“I am very honored and excited to join the UHV family,” Wang said. “And I am very happy to work with Dr. Dmitri Sobolev and other faculty members to grow the Aviation program and serve the local community.”