Senior Thursday

September 11, 2025

Join us for our September Senior Thursday speaker, Tysen Pina. Tysen Pina is an accomplished aviation operations executive and retired U.S. Air Force officer with over 20 years of leadership experience in managing complex flight operations, talent development, and process optimization. Currently serving as the Aviation Department Head at Kansas State University, Tysen oversees 500+ personnel, 30 aircraft, and a $7M budget, facilitating over 17,000 annual flight hours. His work focuses on shaping the next generation of aviation professionals while ensuring operational excellence.Before transitioning to higher education, Tysen spent more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, where he held a variety of leadership roles, flying over 100 combat missions in support of Operations INHERENT RESOLVE, ENDURING FREEDOM, and IRAQI FREEDOM. His experiences include overseeing operations as an E-8C Mission Crew Commander and E-3C AWACS Senior Director, accumulating 1,074 combat hours.Timeline of Roles (Last 10 Years):• 2024 – Present: Aviation Department Head, Kansas State University• 2021 – 2023: Commander, 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron, 552nd Air ControlWing, Tinker AFB, OK• 2020 – 2022: Wing Inspector General, 461st Air Control Wing, Robins AFB, GA• 2019 – 2020: Director of Operations, 16th Airborne Command & Control Squadron,Robins AFB, GA.• 2017 – 2019: Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS• 2016 – 2017: Assistant Director of Operations / C2 Division Commander, 422nd Testand Evaluation Squadron, Nellis AFB, NVTysen’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences from theU.S. Air Force Academy and a Master’s Degree in Business Organization and Leadershipfrom the University of Kansas. He is also a certified flight instructor (CFI/CFII) withextensive expertise in operational oversight, safety management systems, and executivecoaching. Throughout his career, Tysen has been passionate about developing futureleaders and optimizing processes to boost efficiency and performance.With a proven track record of strategic leadership and a commitment to innovation, Tysenis excited to bring his aviation expertise to the Cosmosphere’s Governing Board, Kansas Association of Airports Board and BACE!