James is an EFF Technology Fellow working on the Let's Encrypt project and also a PhD student in the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. His research is in computer security and is particularly interested in creating practical security solutions. He is a STIET fellow and am advised by Professor J. Alex Halderman.

He did his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University, where he received a B.A. double majoring in Economics and Computer Science. While there, he was a three-year letter winner in cross country. In his free time, he enjoys flying and running semi-competitively.