James E. Humphreys was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, and received his AB from Oberlin College, Ohio in 1961, and his PhD from Yale University, Connecticut in 1966. He has taught at the University of Oregon, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (now retired). He visits the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton and Rutgers. He is the author of several graduate texts and monographs.