Academic dean

Dutto is the academic dean of the California Aeronautical University, and a former high school teacher. After more than a decade teaching physics, chemistry, and biology, Dutto was introduced to aviation after her school adopted the AOPA Foundation high school aviation curriculum. The school hired a pilot to help teach the new courses, but being a pilot and being an educator are not the same skill set. Dutto helped to mentor the pilot, and she eventually took over the program.

She immediately fell in love with aviation. “Very quickly I caught the aviation bug. It’s an incredibly small community and everyone is so giving of their time and expertise,” she said.

Still mentoring pilots and mechanics on the skills that make a great educator in her new role as academic dean, Dutto is also busy breaking down barriers that stand in the way of student success. Her unique background in aviation education in high schools has morphed into the opportunity to make a broader impact by ensuring local programs are teaching aviation at a high level so students can seamlessly flow into the university aviation environment.

Dutto and the team at CAU were instrumental in the creation of Navispire, a website that helps high school teachers more effectively teach AOPA’s aviation curriculum with lab kits, tutorial videos, lesson plans, and, through a collaboration with ASA, a resource section. Dutto said she’s proud that she can continue to help educators at all levels, and that by supporting teachers they, “help one to reach many.” FT

Ian J. Twombly is a CFII and former senior content producer for AOPA media.