SON OF MISSIONARIES TAKEN HOSTAGE SOARS FROM LIBERTY TO AFRICA
Jeff Burnham, 2009 School of Aeronautics graduate, is serving in Botswana, Africa, where he lives with his wife, Sarah, and son, Tristan.
following year serving with Flying Mission Services, which provides air ambulance service to the critically ill. His wife, Sarah, and 4-month-old son, Tristan, joined him. “Once I got here, I realized how well Liberty actually prepared me to be (in Africa) not only in my aeronautical knowledge, but also in how prepared I was for cross-cultural interaction,” Jeff Burnham said. “I look back on my time at LU as the best of my life so far. The phenomenal education quality, practical experience, and Godly examples of professionalism and integrity displayed by my professors have been the foundation for my career
hired in the next 20 years.” Also new to the School of Aeronautics is a concentration in unmanned aerial systems, launched last fall. “We think of them as drones,” Young said, adding that the program allows them to keep up with the latest technological advancements in the aviation industry. The school is currently partnering with Liberty’s School of Engineering to create its own system. Liberty University School of Aeronautics offers a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics, with majors in Commercial/Corporate Aviation, Military Aviation, Missions Aviation and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). An aeronautics minor is also available, along with an associate’s degree in flight attendant training.
in aviation. I am eternally grateful to those men who spent so much time helping me to grow spiritually and professionally over the years. I am convinced that no other college in the world has better faculty than LU.” When he graduated, he not only left behind his mentors — he left his plane, too. The Burnham family donated it to Liberty. “I have hundreds of hours flying that airplane and it is very dear to my heart. I hope the LU students who fly it now are loving it as much as I did.” Follow the Burnhams on their family’s blog, jeffandsarahburnham.blogspot.com
J O E L CO L E M A N
graduate, but we’ve had almost 100 percent since we’ve started because we have a different mission,” said Bob Howell, AMT chair. “We take seriously the mentoring side of this and the spiritual development of the students, so we attract a higher quality student applicant, and consequently we’ve had a high level of success graduating students and licensing students.” Job placement is 100 percent for graduates of this program, according to Ernie Rogers, Associate Dean for Academics at Liberty University School of Aeronautics. “The job openings are getting so heavy, all these companies are coming to us now and offering jobs to students upon graduation,” he said. “It’s going to be that way for many years now. Industry experts are expecting 650,000 new aviation maintenance technicians to be
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Flying your family airplane is not the typical way a student gets to college for the first time. Then again, much of missionary pilot Jeff Burnham’s life may seem atypical. As a high school senior, Burnham first heard of Liberty University from his mother, Gracia Burnham, after she told her family’s story during Missions Emphasis Week at the school. Gracia and her late husband Martin were missionaries in the Philippines when they were taken hostage by the militant Abu Sayyaf Group for 376 days from 2001-2002 before Martin was killed in a firefight. At the time of Gracia Burnham’s visit, Liberty had just started an aeronautics major with an emphasis in missions aviation, and she encouraged her son to check it out. He attended a College for a Weekend and was sure Liberty was the place for him. He flew his father’s plane to Liberty from his home in Kansas in 2005, with his family following by car. Jeff Burnham graduated with an aeronautics degree in May 2009, with hopes of working for a major airline. But God had other plans. He answered the call to missions and was in Botswana, Africa the
The new Aviation Academic Center opened near Lynchburg Regional Airport last fall. Wayne B. Booth, a Liberty University donor and Board of Trustees member, conveyed the building to Liberty in early 2011 at close to half of its value. The building was appraised at more than $2.8 million. LIBERTY JOURNAL
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