Jason James graduated with his BS in Computer Science (minor in Applied Mathematics) and his MS in Computer Science (Theory emphasis) both from the then University of Missouri at Rolla (UMR) now Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST). While working on his PhD (Artificial Intelligence emphasis; ABD), Jason taught introductory programming to engineering students using both FORTRAN and C++. He also taught Freshman and Sophomore topics in CIS at an adjunct campus of Columbia College during this time.

When economic pressures moved him to Chicagoland and the wonderful world of William Rainey Harper College, Jason focused on teaching Freshman and Sophomore CSC courses. With the economic pressures that drove him here yet to wain, Jason takes on the occasional algebra course (introductory — college). During his ten years at Harper, Jason has also taken over the coordinator-ship of the Computer Science department, served on committees for Curriculum and Academic Standards, and co-mentored the Robotics/Engineers club, but teaching remains his focus and heart. He maintains memberships in both the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) — most especially their education-focused interest groups. Jason also tries to attend conferences of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges (CCSC) whenever he can get away.

When not playing Dungeon & Dragons with his wife and friends, he and his wife take care of their three beautiful cats. In his spare time, Jason enjoys developing formulae for counting the results of dice rolls — with an eye toward a 'nice' standard deviation formula; using the LaTeX word processing package to prepare lecture supplements and exams; using Javascript, CSS, and DXHTML to create [sometimes animated] lecture supplements and assignments online; and the development of a calculator language & its interpreter which are being applied to classroom management software (such as a gradebook and an exam analyzer).