James Hall

An Army Veteran, James began his aviation career as a sheetmetal mechanic at Cessna Aviation. He worked his way through the ranks into roles with ever-increasing responsibility from a bargaining unit employee, Crew Chief, Foreman, Value Stream Leader, Transition Specialist, and ultimately Program Manager for King Air Production at Hawker-Beechcraft. Along the way he received his Green Belt certification and helped to develop and roll out the Textron Production System at both Cessna and Beechcraft.

While working full-time, James earned multiple associates degrees, a Bachelors of Business Administration, a Master’s of Business Administration, and Airframe and Power Plant Certificates. His experiences as a non-traditional student sparked his passion for education. In 2012, Hall joined WSUTech as adjunct faculty. He quickly moved into a full-time position as Lead Faculty for Aviation and then to his current role as Dean of Aviation and Manu acting at the National Center for Aviation Training.

James was a key member of the team designing and launching the Kansas Career and Technical Education Aviation Pathway. In conjunction with Textron Aviation and USD 259, the largest school district in Kansas, Hall authored the curriculum and trained high school faculty to implement the Aviation pathway. Currently, seven schools participate in the Aviation pathway reaching over 100 high school students.

James serves on the board of the Aviation Technicians Education Council (ATEC) as president He also served on the FAA’s Youth Access to American Jobs in Aviation Task Force (YIATF) and is a FAASTeam Lead representative.