Faculty and staff

James Clinton Grant, BS, MBA
Director
Email: jgrant11@twu.edu
Phone: 940-898-4585
Office: MCL 215

Education
BS, Aviation Technology, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
MBA, Business Finance, University of North Texas

Professional Affiliations
AOPA, EAA, Airplanes and Coffee

Interests
Flying, old cars and airplanes, golf, fishing, traveling

What do you like about TWU?
I like the history and story of TWU and the fact that it has, over time, become a singular institution as a strong public college, primarily for women. The students here are very focused and determined, which makes a good fit for a flight program.

Biography
I was born and raised in Georgia. After graduating college, I went to work for Delta Airlines. I had never been west of Alabama before Delta brought me to DFW.

I went to graduate school in the late 1990s, and in the early 2000s a friend and I started a business doing contract work for airlines that did not have line maintenance services at DFW and a few other airports in other states. While doing that I also taught a few courses in aviation maintenance and avionics at Tarrant County College. Our company was eventually bought and I subsequently went to work at TCC as a full-time faculty member. I eventually became a division dean and helped start a few other technical programs, including flight. I left TCC in late 2023 to help start the flight program at TWU. 

My wife, Monica Mendez-Grant, PhD, is the Vice President of Student Life at TWU and has worked here for nearly 30 years. We have two grown sons, one of which caught the flight bug like dad. I taught them to swim in the old TWU outdoor pool and to play golf on the TWU golf course when they were kids, so the college has been part of our family forever.

Brittany Dinsmore, BS, MEd
Associate Director, Chief Instructor
Email: bdinsmore@twu.edu
Phone: 940-898-2262
Office: MCL 207A

Education
BS, Aviation Sciences - Professional Pilot, Oklahoma State University
MEd, School Counseling, Lamar University

Professional Affiliations
Women in Aviation International, WAI North Texas Chapter, Aero Valley Flying Club

Interests
Flying, especially in the family J3 Cub; reading, traveling, sewing/needlepoint, documentaries

What do you like about TWU?
TWU has a distinguished history, especially breaking down barriers and educating women entering STEM-related career fields. Less than 10% of pilots are women, and I am thrilled and excited that TWU is allowing me the opportunity to change that statistic by training other women to become professional pilots. As the purpose of the university states, educate a woman, empower the world. That is exactly what we plan to do with our Aeronautical Sciences program.

Biography
I grew up in rural Oklahoma and I had my first flying experience in a Pitts S2B as a gift for my 13^th birthday. From that moment on, I knew that I wanted to pursue aviation as a career. Oklahoma State was close to home and had a great aviation program, so it was an easy choice. While there, I earned a private pilot license, instrument rating, commercial license both single and multiengine, certified flight instructor, and certified flight instructor - instrument. I was also employed by OSU as a flight instructor my junior and senior years

After graduation, I moved to Texas and continued to flight instruct for US Aviation Academy for two years, where I helped them create a comprehensive ground school program and became their first chief ground instructor. I made a career change to public education in 2010, where I taught science for eight years, and then earned a master’s degree in professional school counseling, which I did for the next six years.

I met my husband, Kevin, while we were flight students at Oklahoma State. He flies 737s for American Airlines and is the chief pilot of Aero Valley Flying Club. We have two daughters, Emma and Abby, and a very old dog named Bailey. We also have a J3 cub that we bought two years ago. It is the exact same J3 cub that Kevin’s grandfather learned to fly in before going to Italy to fly P-51s in World War II, so not only is it a really cool airplane, it also has a great story.