Biography
Professor Blank is a graduate of Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, specializing in Applied Mathematics. He received his FAA training from Bob Jones University and earned a Master’s in Management and Leadership from Liberty University. He is an FAA-certified aircraft mechanic with both Airframe and Powerplant ratings. He is also an FAA-certified commercial pilot and certified flight instructor.
Professor Blank brings almost twenty-five years of experience in aircraft maintenance to the School of Aeronautics. He served for sixteen years as an Aircraft Maintenance Instructor at Piedmont Baptist College (now Piedmont International University) in North Carolina. For ten of those years, he served as Director of the Aircraft Maintenance Training Program overseeing the day-to-day operations and ensuring Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) compliance within the program.
In 2007, Professor Blank led the development of the FAA-certified aircraft maintenance training, or AMTS (Aviation Maintenance Technician School), program. FAA approval and certification of the program were received in the fall of 2009 with the first-class group of AMTS students beginning in the spring of 2010.