James N. Hauslein

James “Jim” N. Hauslein has been an AOPA member since 1987 and joined the AOPA Board of Trustees in 2012. In addition to his role as Treasurer, he also serves on the AOPA Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee, the Compensation, Organization, and HR Committee, the Nominating Committee, and Chairs the Finance and Investment Committee.

Jim has made general aviation part of his personal and professional life since 1996 when he earned his Private Pilot certificate. He later went on to earn his Instrument rating, as well as Multi-Engine, Commercial, Seaplane and Cessna Citation 500 and Cessna Citation CE-525 type ratings. He now has more than 2,000 hours in the cockpit.

Today, Jim is Managing Director of Hauslein & Company, Inc., a private equity firm. As part of his private equity investment activities with Hauslein & Company, he has served on the board of directors of several companies. Jim also spent over a decade, in the roles of Chairman and CEO, for Sunglass Hut International, Inc., the world's largest specialty retailer of branded non-prescription sunglasses and lifestyle watches. During his tenure at Sunglass Hut, sales increased over 3,100% as the company expanded and developed into a multi-channel, multi-product, multi-national, vertically integrated global retailer. In addition, Jim most recently served as Chairman and CEO of Big Time Products, the nation's leader in work-site accessories and was a 2017 Hardware Category vendor-of the-year recipient from Home Depot. Jim also appeared on a variety of business news programs on CNBC, CNN, and Fox News.

Jim resides in Hobe Sound, Florida. In addition to flying, he enjoys golf, tennis, SCUBA diving, and adventure travel.