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Issue link: http://airportbusiness.epubxp.com/i/193245
40 under forty AGE 38 CHAD NIXON ❘ "I ALWAYS wanted to travel and I associated aviation as being a career that would allow for traveling and seeing the world whether in the military or industry," says Chad Nixon, senior vice president of McFarland Johnson Inc. It was this pursuit that prompted him to start his aviation career early by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. By the age of 19, he was serving as an air traffic controller with a Tactical Air Traffic Control Squadron in San Diego, and then as a fully qualified radar and tower air traffic control supervisor at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida. Nixon served for several years on the Air Traffic Procedures Evaluation Board tasked with coordinating air traffic control functions in SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT MCFARLAND JOHNSON INC. Florida's Gulf Coast Region. He has performed both FAA and Department of Defense airspace liaison duties in numerous countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Oman. While working as an air traffic controller then aviation planner, Nixon earned his MBA with a specialization in aviation from EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University. He has given back to academia by serving as an advisor for students engaged in the FAA's National Design Competition, and in 2014, he will be an adjunct professor at Binghamton University teaching a scholar's course developed around the competition. Nixon currently serves as senior vice president at McFarland Johnson, an engineering/planning firm, where he is responsible for strategic growth and development for all of the company's disciplines. Nixon also serves as project manager and technical lead on statewide and airport-specific aviation planning projects. His current responsibilities include aviation forecasting, economic analysis, airport negotiations, aviation planning, airspace analysis, and project management. Nixon was recently involved in the development of a new method to approach airport planning projects. This method aided in the development of a first of its kind airport computer model, the Airport Dynamic Analysis Tool, which has a patent pending. YEARS IN AVIATION 20 "Chad's work has tripled the size of McFarland Johnson's aviation practice. He has worked on aviation projects of all sizes including a $65 million expansion of the Plattsburgh International Airport." ANN CROOK, DIRECTOR OF AVIATION, ELMIRA CORNING REGIONAL AIRPORT AGE 36 CYRUS T. CALLUM ❘ CYRUS T. Callum grew up by Stapleton International Airport but where most people would consider the noise of planes overhead a nuisance, Callum, who holds a private pilot's license, actually marveled at it and knew he wanted to be a part of the aviation industry one day. Later he became interested in airports and the ways they bring people together. "They bring families together, they bring troops back from overseas, they bring businesses together, and I just really wanted to be a part of that," he says. Today he is. As the assistant director of Airport Operations for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA), his responsibilities include coordinating plans, policies and procedures in addition to administrative, 18 airportbusiness October 2013 ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, AIRPORT OPERATIONS GREATER ORLANDO AVIATION AUTHORITY budgetary and operational issues. Callum joined the Aviation Authority in 2008 as the Manager of its Noise Abatement Program. In his current role he manages Landside and Terminal Operations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance program, Aviation Technical systems and other special projects. Prior to joining GOAA, Callum held multiple positions in operations, planning and business development at the Jacksonville Aviation Authority; Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc.; Landrum & Brown Inc.; and the Denver International Airport. Callum, an American Association of Airport Executives (A.A.A.E.) accredited airport executive, serves as an at-large examiner on the A.A.A.E. Board of Examiners, which is responsible for oversight and development of the Accreditation Program for those seeking the Accredited Airport Executive (A.A.E.) designation. He is an active member of the Southeast Chapter of the A.A.A.E. Callum, also an Airport Certified Employee (A.C.E.) in Operations, served as the first chair of this chapter's information and communication committee, linking it to social media. He is also an adjunct professor at Everglades University, teaching various subjects for the Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in aviation management, for which he was YEARS IN AVIATION named Professor of the Year in 2010. 15