Boeing’s new jet sales chief has deep ties to Wichita State

Boeing Commercial Airplanes on Friday named a new sales chief who spent several years in Wichita and continues to maintain ties here.

Ihssane Mounir was appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Boeing’s airliner division, which puts him in charge of worldwide jetliner sales and services to airlines and aircraft leasing companies. He was most recently vice president of sales for northeast Asia.

Mounir takes over from John Wojick, who will retire from Boeing early next year after 36 years at the aerospace giant.

A native of Morocco, Mounir joined Boeing in Seattle in 1997 as a senior aerodynamics engineer but soon moved over to the sales and marketing side, first selling Boeing jetliners in Central Asia, Europe, Russia and Africa before being promoted to Boeing’s vice president of sales for Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.

Prior to his appointment to northeast Asia, he was the company’s vice president of marketing, sales strategy and operations.

Mounir’s training, however, was in engineering. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering at Wichita State University in 1994 and 1996, respectively, and was a teaching assistant there from 1992 to 1997, according to university records.

Scott Miller, professor and chairman of WSU’s aerospace engineering department, was Mounir’s adviser on his master’s degree and now considers him a good friend.

Miller said that when Mounir was a graduate student, he had a strong work ethic. Perhaps too strong.

“He was one of these guys that you actually had to worry about him doing too much,” Miller said.

As a student, Mounir wrote a research paper that won an international competition held by a professional aerospace engineering society.

Miller said Mounir’s affable nature is likely what prompted his move at Boeing from engineering to sales and marketing.

“He’s … the nicest guy you could ever meet: hard working, incredibly personable,” Miller said Friday. “He’s just a sharp mind.”

Mounir is a financial supporter of the university, having been named a life member to the WSU President’s Club, which comes with donating more than $100,000 to the university. He’s also an active member of the WSU Foundation’s National Advisory Board and serves on the College of Engineering’s advisory board, according to the WSU Foundation.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Boeing’s new jet sales chief has deep ties to Wichita State."