Over the course of a multi-faceted 43-year career as a first responder and public-safety educator, Stephen Malley seems to have checked off every major item on his professional bucket list save one – the one that drew him to Amarillo College.

Malley, who since 2021 has served as coordinator of AC’s Fire Protection Technology program, will cross that last item off his list sometime this summer, when AC opens its new and long-awaited First Responders Academy.