"James S. retired in 2016 as a NASA research test pilot and former Air Force test pilot. He flew approximately 9300 hours in high performance jet aircraft including the F-15, F-16, F-18, F-104, A-7D, and T-38 aircraft. He was also a sport parachutist on the Air Force Academy parachute team.

He is a graduate of the Air Force Academy (1972) with a major in astrodynamics and control theory. He has advanced degrees in control theory, orbital mechanics, and dynamics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1980) and Stanford University (1993), and an applied mathematics degree from the University of Washington (2011). He taught graduate and undergraduate classes in math and engineering as an adjoint professor in a classroom setting for the California State University system for 25 years, with many adult learners seeking master's degrees and college age undergraduate students.

His subjects of expertise include: calculus, differential equations, linear control theory, statics and dynamics of mechanical systems, aircraft dynamic modelling, and orbital mechanics. He has tutored online for the past 5 years in a one-on-one setting." less...