Before joining HP in early 1981, he ran his own consulting business. Coauthor of two papers, one on helium properties and the other on an automated ratio-transformer bridge, he holds a BS degree in broadcasting awarded by Oregon State University in 1979. Jim is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Now living in Corvallis, Oregon, he enjoys traveling in the American West and northern Europe, music, photography, and cars---he is currently building his first "hot rod." (Jim's work on new calculator R&D is appropriate since his father owns the first HP-35 Calculator ever sold.)