Executive Changes at Embry-Riddle's Prescott, AZ, Campus

Sept. 15, 2008
Dan Carrell has been named interim chancellor. Jerry Kidrick joins Embry-Riddle as chair of Prescott's flight department. Tom Rajala has been named dean of enrollment management.

Prescott, AZ/Daytona Beach, FL, Sept. 15, 2008 – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University today announced the following executive appointments at its Prescott, AZ, campus.

Dan Carrell has been named interim chancellor. Carrell previously served as chancellor for seven years and served on the faculty. He will replace current chancellor Norval Pohl, who has relinquished his duties due to health problems.

Carrell joined the university in 1986 as a member of the enrollment management team and director of development at the Prescott campus. He has served as chair of the flight-training and aeronautical science departments, as well as director of business and administration.

Prior to joining Embry-Riddle, Carrell served as the senior counselor and adviser at the Defense Language Institute in San Francisco and as chief instructor and deputy director of the Department of Combat Operations at the U.S. Army School of the Americas, Ft. Gulick, in Panama.

Carrell earned an M.S. in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle and a bachelor's degree in political science from Northwestern State University.

Jerry Kidrick joins Embry-Riddle as chair of Prescott's flight department after 32 years as a U.S. Army aviator. Kidrick will oversee the campus's Flight Simulation and Training Center and flight operations, based at Prescott's Love Field Airport. He also will manage all flight training, instructor pilots, fleet maintenance, and safety at Prescott, which is part of the largest collegiate flight training program in the country.

Kidrick holds a master's degree in homeland security and emergency management from American Military University and a B.A. in education from Central Washington University.

Tom Rajala has been named dean of enrollment management, a new position at the Prescott campus. Rajala will be responsible for strategy and program development efforts to build and enhance recruitment marketing programs that will continue to attract and retain highly qualified students and drive increased enrollment.

Rajala previously served as the associate provost at University of the Pacific, where he managed admissions, financial aid, and the registrar's office. Prior to that, he was director of admissions at Boston University and at American University in Washington, D.C.

Rajala holds an M.A. in education from American University and a bachelor's degree in education from California University of Pennsylvania.

Bill Thompson has been named director of public and external relations. He will be responsible for developing public relations programs to support the marketing objectives of the Prescott campus and build greater visibility in the local and state community, including media, government, and the higher education segments. He also will help to support the university's alumni and donor relations efforts in Prescott.

Thompson has served in a variety of management positions at the Prescott campus, most recently as director of enrollment management and admissions for 10 years. Prior to that, he served in management roles in the aviation/aerospace industry, and spent 15 years in sales leadership and management positions.

Thompson holds a B.S. in aviation business administration from Embry-Riddle's Prescott campus.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs, with accreditation pending for Embry- Riddle's first doctoral programs, in Aviation and in Engineering Physics. Embry- Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 campus centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.