Alumni Portrait: Jim Becker '69 Th'70 Tu'75 Th'76

Jim Becker '69 Th'70 Tu'75 Th'76, CEO of LightHawk

A native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Becker currently lives in the Boston area. In addition to his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth, Becker has BE and ME degrees from Thayer, as well as an MBA from Tuck. As an engineering student, he designed aviation navigation circuits that are still used in millions of devices. He also developed aviation navigation systems that won industry awards for technical excellence.

Throughout his career, Becker developed an extensive track record as an entrepreneur. As founder and CEO of several startups, he led the raising of over $40 million from a wide range of investors. He co-founded Wingspeed Corporation and grew it to the point where nine airline operators, including FedEx, were operating portions of their fleets on Wingspeed's communications and computing systems. As a partner at Hunter Strategies and Flight Guidance, he advised numerous startup companies and emerging airlines. Becker also served as president of PHT Corp. and as a group product manager at Digital Equipment Corp. He started his career after Tuck and Thayer in finance at WR Grace. 

In addition, Becker is a pilot who has been flying for over 60 years. He flew C-130's as an officer in the US Air Force and still flies as a volunteer pilot for LightHawk. His current passion is gliding. He teaches soaring at the Greater Boston Soaring Club in Sterling, MA.

Here, he discusses his time at Thayer, his role as CEO of LightHawk, and the ways in which engineering and flying can make a difference in conservation. 

What sparked your interest in flying?

My dad was a heavily decorated Air Force pilot who flew in the Korean War. He had an airplane to use on business, and he would often fly from Cleveland to Hanover, bringing my brother along, to visit me. I started flying at age 15. I have commercial, instructor and multi-engine ratings in addition to my pilot's license. I was fortunate to be able to teach a few students to fly during my years at Thayer and Tuck. Now most of my instruction time is teaching soaring in gliders, which I love. It's very special to be soaring in a thermal and to look out and see hawks circling with you. 

Why did you decide to study engineering at Thayer? Any favorite courses?

I was always mechanically oriented. My father got his engineering degree from Case, and as a kid, I was up to my elbows in engines, radios, and anything I could take apart. When I was looking at colleges, Dartmouth's combination of liberal arts and engineering really appealed to me. After my service on active duty, the combined MBA/ME offered by Tuck and Thayer was the logical next step.

In terms of courses, I loved ENGS 21. It was a phenomenal course because all the professors rotated through there and you worked on a real-world problem. Carl Long, the former dean, was phenomenal, and so was Professor Graham Wallace. I enjoyed the hardcore electronics courses, where we wire-wrapped the hardware and programmed in machine language. I had to write a cross assembler for the Intel 4004, the first microprocessor. When I go back to Dartmouth now and tour the labs at Thayer, I am amazed at what a rich environment it is. 

Where did your career take you after Thayer?

Like my dad, I was in the Air Force. After I received my BE from Thayer, I went into the Air Force and did a tour in Vietnam flying C-130s, a four-engine turboprop transport. After that, I decided that I did not want to make a career in the Air Force and arranged to swap my remaining active-duty commitment to time with an Air Force Reserve Unit at Westover, Mass. 

Concurrent with that, I enrolled in the dual-degree program at Tuck and Thayer. Every Tuesday night and many weekends, I would drive from Hanover to Westover to fly and then drive back to make classes the next day. After graduation, I got a deep immersion in finance at WR Grace and in technology at Digital Equipment Corp. I got bit by the entrepreneurial bug, secured some patents, and created a couple of startups. One focused on software for clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies. The second company developed specialized communications software for airlines. I consulted for many years after that and was invited to be on the board of LightHawk by a friend who was the board chair. That led me to my current role as CEO of the organization.

How is LightHawk helping to address the effects of climate change? 

LightHawk offers the power of aviation to enhance the rate and effectiveness of conservation work, often in ways that are not immediately obvious. Through the generosity of our volunteer pilots, LightHawk provides an aerial perspective to monitor ecologically important landscapes, coastal ecosystems, vital wetlands, and river systems. We can track changes over time, showing the impact of change and helping enhance climate resilience. An important part of our mission is endangered species recovery and wildlife monitoring. In January, I spent two weeks flying between northern British Columbia and Colorado, moving fifteen gray wolves to meet the voter-approved mandate for the reintroduction of wolves. That brought LightHawk's mission home to me personally in a very dramatic way. 

How have recent changes in federal policy impacted your work?

With the reversal of much of the federal funding to support conservation, we've seen a significant increase in requests for LightHawk's services. There will be much development pressure on public lands that had been previously reserved. Along with our conservation partners, we'll help to document those changes over time. LightHawk provides the aerial perspective for photographers, videographers, journalists, and environmentalists to document the changes and educate the public about what they are about to lose. We're doing as much as we can in the face of the current situation. It's our conservation partners and the environment itself that will be most impacted. 

What are the advantages of using airplanes in conservation efforts?

If you want to know what's going on in the environment, the best place to see it is from 2,000 and 4,000 feet above ground. If an organization like The Nature Conservancy is monitoring a plot of land or needs information on where pollution is coming from, LightHawk can make that visible from the air. Our program managers all have advanced degrees in environmental science. They vet and prioritize all the flights. The need for our services is great, and we want to make sure that we are focused on maximizing output and eventual impact. This year, we expect to do around 300 flights. 

How has your engineering education helped you in your career? 

First, the broad engineering education Thayer offers, incorporating everything from materials to fluid dynamics to electronics, is an invaluable basis for understanding the increasingly technical world we live in. Secondly, the skill of solving a large problem by breaking it down into smaller problems and then building it back up is extremely useful, no matter what your career is.