Gov. Jay Inslee Appoints Alaska Air Group VP a Trustee of CWU

Governor Jay Inslee has appointed Glenn S. Johnson a trustee of Central Washington University. Johnson is executive vice president of Alaska Airlines Group and president of Horizon Air Industries.

“I'm honored to be joining the Board of Trustees at CWU," said Johnson, who has been involved with the university’s aviation program for several years. "CWU has an excellent reputation for educating a diverse student population to prepare them for a broad array of careers in the workforce. I’m particularly impressed with Central’s philosophy focusing on hands-on learning."

Johnson has been executive vice president of Alaska Air Group, Inc. since November 2012. Over the past 30 years at Alaska, he has overseen customer services, finance, strategy, project management, maintenance and engineering, information technology, and corporate real estate.

"We're thrilled to welcome Glenn as a trustee of CWU," said CWU President James L. Gaudino. “His financial expertise will be a great asset as we move to responsibility centered management among our colleges. He brings strong business experience, commitment to education, and great knowledge of the state's political world."

In past years, Johnson served as chief financial officer for Alaska Air Group overseeing airport maintenance, services, and engineering. As the senior vice president of customer service at Horizon Air, Johnson oversaw operations at 40 airports across the United States and Canada.

Gaudino says CWU’s hospitality initiative will benefit from Johnson's knowledge of customer service. "CWU is continuing to improve our service to our students, to the community, our alumni, and everyone who comes to us," Gaudino said. "We look forward to learning from Glenn’s great experience in this area."

Johnson will serve from April 2014 to September 2017 in a position vacated by Kate Reardon.

CWU's aviation program, established in 1975, is the only fully accredited public university aviation program in the Northwest. The Horizon Air Direct Hire program allows qualified CWU flight technology graduates to interview with Horizon for flight officer positions with only 750 total flight hours and 50 multi-engine flight hours.

CONTACT: Linda Schactler | CWU Public Affairs | Cell: (509) 607-4103 | Schactler@cwu.edu