Michael Mower is the executive director and chief flight instructor for Southern Utah University’s aviation program. Mower brings his years of service in the United States Air Force to the classroom, enriching discussions and interactions with current students.

During his time in the Air Force, Mower worked in the fuels and cryogenics lab and was the lead instructor for the Honor Guard detachment at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. After leaving the Air Force, Mower started a research and development company specializing in advanced metals and cutting-edge heat-treating protocols. Through this research, Mower has authored or co-authored multiple patents.

In 2013, Mower started SUU’s aviation program with a small staff and 30 students. Under his leadership, the program has grown to 75 instructors and 600 students. He has a skilled and diverse team that can offer instruction on aircraft safety, maintenance, fixed-wing, and rotor wing. With the recent growth, the aviation program has made Cedar City Regional Airport the second busiest airport in Utah. The Iron County Sheriff’s Air Operation Division heavily relies on SUU’s pilots and instructors to assist in aerial surveillance, pursuit, drug interdiction, and search and rescue efforts.

As a veteran, Mower understands the needs of his student veterans and advocates on their behalf. As an active lobbyist for veterans’ rights in Washington D.C., Mower understands the value of developing mutually beneficial relationships and assembled a team of key senators and representatives. The team that Mower has assembled has successfully defended veteran’s educational benefits for almost a decade and has two pieces of legislation signed into law by the President of the United States.

Mike Mower trained under Chuck Aaron of Hollywood and Red Bull Fame and is now one of the few pilots in the United States that can perform aerobatic flight in a helicopter. These skills and the partnership with Chuck Aaron allowed SUU’s Aviation program to open the Advanced Flight Academy. This Academy trains elite pilots from around the world in advanced and tactical flight and accidental light into inadvertent instrument meteorological conditions (IIMC). This program is the first in the country to offer training that focuses explicitly on the prevention and recovery from these conditions.