Kristy Kiernan

Title
Associate Professor; Program Coordinator, M.S. in Aviation Safety
Email
Department
Department of Aeronautics
College
College of Aviation

Areas of Expertise

aviation safety, human performance in complex systems, unmanned aircraft integration
Kristy Kiernan

Dr. Kristy Kiernan is an associate professor in the Worldwide College of Aviation and the Boeing Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety associate director. She also serves as the Program Coordinator for the Master of Science in Aviation Safety. She holds a Ph.D. in Aviation, an MAS from Embry-Riddle, and a B.S. in Neural Sciences from Brown University. Before joining Embry-Riddle, she flew Falcon 20s on search and rescue, drug interdiction and law enforcement missions with the United States Coast Guard. While on active duty, she graduated from Aviation Safety Officer School, served as a Crew Resource Management curriculum developer and as the Standardization Officer for the Falcon community.

Dr. Kiernan leads the Boeing Center's efforts in research, academic programs, professional education, and industry engagement. Her current research projects include a cooperative agreement with NASA exploring the positive human contribution to aviation safety. In this role, she coordinates a team of faculty and students from across the university to study how to measure, evaluate and reinforce positive human performance. She has presented at numerous national and international conferences on the topic of resilient performance on the flight deck. She is the lead developer for the World Economic Forum Drone Transformation Map and an expert contributor to Forbes.com in aerospace and defense. She holds a current Airline Transport Pilot rating and a Remote Pilot certificate, and until recently, was an actively flying commercial pilot in the SR-22 and the TBM 850.

She lives in Alabama with her husband and four children. 

  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Aviation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • M.A.S. - Master of Aeronautical Science in Aeronautics, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • B.S. - Bachelor of Science in Neural Sciences, Brown University
  • Remote Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Airline Transport Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Coast Guard Crew Resource Management Instructor - United States Coast Guard Aviation Training Center
  • Private Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
2023, University Aviation Association Sorenson Award, 2023 College of Aviation Faculty of the Year, 2021 College of Aeronautics Researcher of the Year, 2020 Making a Difference Award for Team Aero, 2018 John K Lauber Safety Award