Selim Ozyurek

Dr. Selim Ozyurek is an Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University’s College of Aviation, where he teaches courses in Aviation Safety, Aircraft Accident Investigation, Airline Flight Operations, Airline Administration, International Aviation, and Airline Business Management. 

Before entering academia full time, Dr. Ozyurek built a distinguished international career in aviation safety and compliance. He served as Head of Safety, Security, and Compliance Monitoring at Air Albania, where he led the airline’s successful launch and regulatory approvals under Turkish Airlines’ partnership, including AOC, EASA TCO. At QAZAQ AIR, he directed the IOSA renewal process and compliance oversight. Earlier, as a Senior Flight Safety Engineer at Turkish Airlines, he advanced SMS development, applied safety methodologies, and guided cross-departmental safety initiatives. As an independent consultant he worked with civil and military aviation organizations from Turkmenistan, Libya, and Pakistan.

Dr. Ozyurek also has experience in pilot training and education, having coordinated cadet programs at the Florida Institute of Technology Aviation Academy, where he oversaw training for more than 150 pilots, and contributed to a $20M FIT–Turkish Airlines joint training and research initiative. His career began in engineering with Turkish Technic, where he specialized in Boeing 737 line maintenance engineering and maintenance planning.

Bridging academia and industry, Dr. Ozyurek integrates applied expertise in regulatory compliance, human factors, safety management, and airline management into his teaching and research, preparing the next generation of aviation professionals to meet evolving industry challenges.

His research focuses on aviation safety, safety management systems (SMS), safety culture, pilot training, human factors, and unmanned aviation systems.

He serves and contributes to the university’s research council, department and college curriculum committees, UAS committee, and graduate education committee. As the builder of the college safety program and SMS, he plays a fundamental role in the college safety committees.

LinkedIn: Selim Ozyurek | LinkedIn