Polk State College Aerospace Alumni

06/04/2026

Welcome, President Kamoutsas!

The Polk State College District Board of Trustees named Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas as the institution’s sixth president on Wednesday with a 5-0 vote. Kamoutsas, currently Florida’s Commissioner of Education, will join Polk State on July…

05/08/2026

Congratulations to David Smith (’21) on joining American Airlines as a First Officer flying the Airbus A320 series at just 24 years old! He is projected to eventually reach No. 2 on the seniority list at American – a list which currently includes more than 16,000 pilots.

David previously was a Captain & First Officer for Republic Airways, flying the Embraer 175 since 2022. He also flew the Pilatus PC-12 for PlaneSense as a corporate pilot. Additionally, he was a contract corporate pilot flying Citation jets & a flight instructor for Polk State College - Aerospace & Globe Aero.

He earned an A.S. in Professional Pilot Science from Polk State College & a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Florida.

David will be based in Los Angeles (LAX) initially before transitioning to Miami (MIA). He joins fellow Polk State Aerospace alumni Chad Albury (’21), Ying Liu (’22), Kevan Nanton (’14) & Jacob Wingate (’21) flying mainline for American Airlines.

We couldn’t be prouder of your continued success!

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05/05/2026

04/30/2026

Welcome all Spring 2026 graduates to our alumni base! We’re proud of you & a resource to each of you. Enjoy celebrating a major accomplishment! 🎓

With big flight dreams, Polk State College Aerospace student Marissa Vereb has already spent a lot of time in the air – but not just in airplanes. She was the youngest pilot to participate in…