Draft:Abdol Moabery

Abdol Moabery (born November 18) is an American business executive and entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder and CEO of GA Telesis, a commercial aerospace company, as well as a two-term chair of the board of trustees at Florida Atlantic University.

Early life and education
Moabery was born on November 18.

Moabery first dabbled into aviation during his tenure in the US Navy, which he described in a blog post to GA Telesis' website as "no better place to receive a pseudo-Ph.D. in leadership". Later honorably discharged from the military, Moabery would graduate from Florida Atlantic University in 1994, receiving a bachelor's degree in international business management.

Career
Moabery previously served as executive vice president at Aviation Systems International (ASI), a small aviation company. Starting at ASI in the early 90's, Moabery's role at the company included him spending a year in India after the South Asian country began opening up its air travel market and airspace. He recalled the experience at ASI as what helped him become successful at selling parts.

In 1997, C-S Aviation, funded by Soros Fund Management, brought on Moabery from ASI, bringing him on as director of marketing and sales at C-S. He initially proposed the idea for what would become GA Telesis to C-S Aviation, though the idea was turned down by management.

GA Telesis
GA Telesis was founded on April 10, 2002, by Moabery and Arrow Air founder George E. Batchelor. Batchelor passed away in July 2002, less than a few months after GA Telesis was founded; his stake was acquired by Moabery after his passing. Choosing to include their first names in the company's name was a request from Batchelor, though Moabery later convinced Batchelor to only include the initials of the two founders.

During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Moabery attracted attention from Skift for flying commercial 36 times during the pandemic. Since the air travel industry was considered an essential business during the pandemic, GA Telesis' customers and associates often travelled while adhering to social distancing measures. Moabery credited Zoom fatigue and the amount of money being transacted, often in the millions of US dollars, in addition to his clients and associates desires to meet face to face.

SkyWatch
Moabery was previously CEO of a company which owned SkyWatch LLC, a Raytheon-partnered startup that developed sensors targeted at detecting illegal immigration to the United States from its Mexican border, which was backed and part-owned by Rudy Giuliani and his consulting firm. SkyWatch's sensors would be able to monitor an area at 360 degrees, zoom in to examine multiple targets, and retain its full surveillance capabilities even while zooming in. Giuliani was invited by Moabery to join SkyWatch two years prior to Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign, during which Giuliani often promoted the idea of a technological fence. Moabery later raised money for Giuliani's campaign in Florida prior to its suspension. According to SkyWatch, though, the company ended its involvement with Giuliani after it realized that Giuliani had essentially traded, for an eighth of SkyWatch's equity, an ultimately unfulfilled promise to develop marketing and business plans for SkyWatch which would raise $7 million USD in capital. Giuliani would later voluntarily divest itself from the company in September 2007, though The New York Times ' Russ Buettner saw the divestiture by Giuliani as a political public relations move, comparing it to Hillary Clinton's divestiture of a blind trust which owned Raytheon's stock prior to her unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. Moabery would remain a shareholder in SkyWatch, though Moabery praised Giuliani during his tenure as Mayor of New York City, which was during his own residence in the city, and would later donate an undisclosed amount to Giuliani's campaign.

Florida Atlantic University
In 2011, Moabery was appointed by Florida governor Rick Scott to Florida Atlantic University's board of trustees, alongside Raymond James financial advisor and wife of US Representative Allen West Angela Graham-West and retired Indian River County school district superintendent Julius Teske. Moabery himself would succeed Rajendra Gupta, a Fort Lauderdale physician who himself would later serve on the Board of Trustees for Broward College. During his tenure, Florida Atlantic would break ground on a new complex for academic and athletic excellence.

In 2019, Moabery's role at Florida Atlantic would increase after he was elected chairman of the board, a role Moabery would be reelected to once in 2020. As chair, Moabery alongside president John W. Kelly and athletic director Brian White oversaw FAU's athletic programs move away from Conference USA and into the American Athletic Conference, which gave the Florida Atlantic Owls more national exposure. FAU joined the conference at the same time as the athletic programs for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Rice University, North Texas, and UTSA.

Awards and recognition
In 2021, the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading designated Moabery as the recipient of its ISTAT award in 2021 for lasting contributions to the aviation industry.

Moabery would receive the Aviation Suppliers Association’s Champion Award in 2024 for contribution, the same year that GA Telesis would also receive the same award for business.

Personal life and philanthropy
Moabery married Cathy in January 2001, who presently serves as GA Telesis' head of marketing and plays an active role in his philanthropy organizations. The couple have two children. The family resides in Delray Beach, Florida. Moabery's son, Chase, was noted for helping Florida Atlantic coach Lane Kiffin attract media attention for answering "philisophical" questions on Twitter Chase asked after Kiffin's first spring as coach.

The Moabery family has donated to His House Children's Home, Food for the Poor, and the March of Dimes, among other charities.