James Grimsley services as the Regional Innovation Officer for the Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub at Southern Methodist University (SMU).  Grimsley also serves as the Executive Director for Advanced Technology Initiatives with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Mr. Grimsley is a former Oklahoma Transportation Commissioner. Mr. Grimsley currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Commercial Drone Alliance (CDA) as well as a variety of other boards and advisory groups. As part of Mr. Grimsley’s Choctaw Nation duties, he currently manages the FAA BEYOND Program (the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is the only tribal lead participant in the BEYOND program), and previously managed the FAA Integration Pilot Program (IPP) for the Choctaw Nation. In October 2022 U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg appointed Mr. Grimsley to the FAA’s Advanced Aviation Advisory Council (AAAC). Mr. Grimsley has also served on multiple FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committees (ARCs) including the Beyond Visual Line of Sight ARC.

Mr. Grimsley is a degreed aerospace engineer with more than 35 years of professional experience in the aviation and defense industries including corporate executive experience as well as being an Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Oklahoma. Most of Mr. Grimsley’s career has involved uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and emerging aviation technologies. Mr. Grimsley has published papers in both peer-reviewed engineering journals and law journals on issues related to emerging aviation technology. Mr. Grimsley has also testified before Congress on aerospace innovation topics and has appeared multiple times before the Oklahoma legislature to discuss aerospace and aviation policy issues. Mr. Grimsley was a speaker at the White House Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Summit in August 2022. Mr. Grimsley has been a regular speaker at industry and academic conferences and a commentator in the press since 2007 for emerging aviation topics.

Mr. Grimsley earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of Oklahoma.