Denny Joseph Lessard

Title
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Email
Department
Department of Aeronautics
College
College of Aviation

Office Hours

8:00am - 5:00pm, MTWThF
  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration: Management, Northcentral University
  • M.A. - Master of Arts in Management and Supervision: Administration, Central Michigan University
  • B.A. - Bachelor of Arts in Education, Arizona State University
  • A.A. - Associate of Arts in Real Estate, East Los Angeles College
  • Airline Transport Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Flight Engineer - Federal Aviation Administration
  • Professional Certificate: Temporary Secondary, Grades 7-12 - State Department of Education, AZ
  • Commercial Pilot - Federal Aviation Administration
  • ASCI 693: Current Rsch Prob in Avia/Aero
  • ASCI 691: Graduate Capstone Course
AS246, AS346, AS350, AS380, AS386, AS387, AS402, AS350, AS411, AS408, AS425, AS426, AS435, BA415, SF210, SF345


PRESENTATIONS
*A Benchmark for Error Reduction in Healthcare: Lessons from the Aviation Industry Paper presented at the National Safety Council, International Air Transport Section, Aviation Ground Safety Seminar, Prescott, AZ, February, 2008
*Reducing Errors through Team Resource Management Paper presented at the Verde Valley Medical Center Annual Forum, Cottonwood, AZ, November, 2007
*Investigating the United Airlines 585 Accident Presentation to the Arizona Chapter of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) Annual Forum, Prescott, AZ, April, 2007
*Aviation Safety through Risk Management Paper presented at Mirage/Malibu Owners and Pilots Association (MMOPA) 2006 National Forum, Colorado Springs, CO, September, 2006
*Reducing Errors through Team Resource Management Paper presented at Michigan Society of Health Risk Management Seminar, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, February, 2006
*Reducing Errors through Team Resource Management Paper presented at County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services Forum, Los Angeles, CA, May, 2005
*Applying Lessons Learned in Aviation to Healthcare: From Promises to Action Paper presented at Forum of the University Healthcare Consortium, San Diego, CA, February, 2005
*A Benchmark for Error Reduction: Lessons from the Aviation Industry Paper presented at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical School, Los Angeles, CA, November, 2004
*Applying Lessons Learned in Aviation to Healthcare: From Promises to Action Paper presented with Hilbourne, L. & Rubino, J. at Fall Forum of the University Healthcare Consortium, Scottsdale, AZ, September, 2004
*Benchmarking Aviation Safety Paper presented at the University of California, Irvine, Medical School, Irvine, CA, March, 2004
*Benchmarking Aviation Safety Paper presented at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Faculty Forum, Prescott, AZ, March, 2004
*Airline Safety and Security Program Management Lecturer at George Washington University, Aviation Institute, Washington, DC, October, 2000
*Airline Safety and Security Program Management Lecturer at The George Washington University, Aviation Institute, Washington, DC, June, 1998
*Aviation Safety Management into the Future Paper presented at the College of Aviation Forum, Purdue University, Lafayette, IN, November, 1997
*Airline Safety Management Programs: Presenting the United Airlines Model Paper presented at the Chinese Aviation Advisory Council (CAAC) Annual Safety Forum for Chinese Airlines, Chengdu, China, October, 1995
PUBLICATIONS
*Lessard, D.J. (2008). Assessing reduction of operating room team error using crew resource
management principles. Dissertation, Northcentral University, Prescott Valley, AZ
*Lessard, D. J. & Levin, A. (2008, January 23). Investigating the British Airways B777 crash,
USA Today: Washington, D.C.
*Lessard, D.J. (2006, July). Identifying impaired physicians benchmarking aviation experiences,
Safety Newsletter of The Joint Hospital Accreditation Commission, 8 (7), Chicago, IL
*Lessard, D.J. (January, 2005). Communications techniques to reduce errors in healthcare, Safety
Newsletter of The Joint Hospital Accreditation Commission, 7 (1), Chicago, IL
*Lessard, D.J. (Ed.). (1990-1998). The Safetyliner  Flight Safety Magazine, (vols.1 -32). United
Airlines, Inc., Chicago, IL
*Lessard, D.J. (1991, April). Cold and low  look out below. Journal of the Airline Pilots
Association, 60(4), 28-31
*Lessard, D.J. (1990, January). Cold and low  look out below. The Safetyliner - Flight Safety
Magazine, 1(1). 14-18

Sumwalt, R., Cross, D., & Lessard, D. (2018). Examining How Breakdowns in Pilot Monitoring of the Aircraft Flight Path. International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace, 2(3). Retrieved from http://commons.erau.edu/ijaaa/vol2/iss3/8


Dr. Lessard has accumulated over forty years of managerial and operational expertise in aviation and affiliated industries including worldwide flight experience within general, military and commercial aviation. His background includes specialized training and experience in aviation safety program management including aircraft accident investigation, accident reconstruction, failure analysis, systems safety concepts, human factors assessment, Crew Resource Management (CRM), and Safety Management Systems (SMS) programs.

He is an accident and incident investigative expert having participated in over ten major accident investigations, three representing a major air carrier under the auspices of the NTSB accident investigation system. He has personally conducted over 500 minor accident and incident investigations. Dr. Lessard has been recognized for his expertise in human factors, analyzing operating environments, operational safety program management, organizational design and program development. He is currently working with Healthcare Organizations identifying aviation safety program Crew Resource Management benchmarks that would apply to managerial techniques in developing Healthcare Safety Culture Programs to reduce error.

As an educator, Dr. Lessard has served as an Adjunct Professor, Lecturer Professor and Assistant Professor on three University faculties; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Los Angeles City College, and The George Washington University, teaching both graduate and undergraduate level courses in business, management, transportation and safety program development. He is currently teaching Aeronautical Science, Safety Science, Business Administration, and Aviation Management courses. He has been involved in managing and producing innovative methodologies for delivering interactive, simulation based academic courses for both classroom and online delivery. He is the current Chair of the Aeronautical Science Department for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott Campus.

Dr. Lessard holds three educational degrees including a BA in Education, a MA in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. He has also attended the Air Force Flight Safety Management School at the University of Southern California as well as numerous specialized airline industry, defense department and U.S. Air Force courses. He is a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI); the Daedalians - The National Fraternity of Military Pilots and Delta Mu Delta, the International Honor Society of Business Administration.

Dr. Lessard has accumulated extensive experience as a senior manager in academia, corporate business and the military. He served as the Director of Transportation, Military Airlift Command, U.S. Air Force; Assistant Chief Pilot, Los Angeles, United Airlines; Interim Chair, Safety Science Department and Chair, Aeronautical Science Department, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott. He is a professional pilot with over six thousand hours of flight time in general, military and commercial aviation. He is an USAF Command Pilot and holds an FAA Air Transport Pilot Certificate with multiple type ratings including the A320, B737, L300 and L1329.

Delta Mu Delta, International Honor Society of Business Administration

Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education

Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2004 -2005 & 2005 -2006

Member, Past Committee Member, University Aviation Association

Member, Past Chapter Officer, International Society of Air Safety Investigators

Member; Airline Pilots Association

Member, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Member, Military Officers Association of America

Member, Past Officer, Past Committee Chair, Order of Daedalians, Fraternity of Military Pilots

Board of Directors, Strategic Alliance for Error Reduction, California Medical Universities

Member, Southern California Regional Business Association for United Airlines