David Tesser, MCA
Dean, Aviation and Aeronautical Science
“As many of you know, David Tesser is a graduate of LeTourneau University, has faithfully served as a faculty member since 2014, and is currently Chair of the Department of Applied Aviation Sciences. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology / Flight from LETU and Master of Commercial Aviation from Delta State University. Mr. Tesser is regarded highly by his colleagues and is well loved by students. I’ve been impressed over the years with Mr. Tesser’s commitment to Christ; his desire to serve; his creative problem solving; and his relational approach to leadership. He has served the institution not only in the classroom, but also as chair, as interim Director of Maintenance, and in countless other ways.”
—Ben Caldwell, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
His approach to student care, in his own words:
“I continue to feel very blessed to have the opportunity on a daily basis in our classes and labs at LeTourneau to minister to our students. They need to be loved on, and they need to know that we care about them personally, spiritually, and professionally. They need to know that we pray for them and that we are available
to them. I hope that my students are able to come to me when they have needs or questions and that they feel Christ's love when they are around me. We are serving as an example to our students about what the Christian walk looks like with our peers, our family, our co-workers, and even the people that we interact with daily in our community. I like the quote by Theodore Roosevelt, ‘People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.’
Each semester at LeTourneau, I have been thinking through this question: How do we integrate faith and learning in a very technical environment? Sometimes it is through my devotions at the beginning of class, but most of the time it is something that just needs to be part of who I am and what I am teaching. Airplanes
don't fly without the laws of God and the science behind those laws. This semester I have decided to study different characters in the Bible for the devotions in my classes. We are working through Job and Jonah in two of my classes. Both of these men had a different approach to following God. As I am working through questions in my own life, I like to share these same questions with my students because I think that they are often dealing with some of the same things.”
