Bio Notes

Left to right: Tom, Sue, and Christina in New York City in August 2006.

My name is Tom James. Most of the year, I teach mathematics and astronomy at Chaffey High School in Ontario , California. I live in Upland (the city immediately north of Ontario) with my wife, Sue, and our fifteen year old daughter, Christina who attends Upland High School as an honors student. We also have a married daughter, Colleen, who graduated from Westmont College in 1999, has completed her Master of Science degree and her PhD in Environmental Sciences at UC Riverside. Colleen was the principal scientific advisor to Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen, authors of The Green Book. Colleen serves as a writer and scientific consultant to several organizations involved with environmental concerns and sustainability issues. Colleen's husband, Ryan Howell completed his Master of Science degree and his PhD in Behavioral Psychology at UC Riverside and now serves on the faculty of the San Francisco State University Department of Psychology. I have been a follower of Jesus for over 25 years.

We made our second trip to Alaska in 2007. Pictured are Sue, Christina, Ryan, Colleen and Tom standing on the Matanuska Glacier.

I like astronomy, camping and backpacking, playing guitar, gardening, computers and sports. I grew up in South Pasadena (the natives will assure you that it is not part of Pasadena) the oldest of five children. My mom is from Cambridge, Ohio and lives in Orange County. My dad was from Macon, Georgia, and passed away in 1998. After graduating from South Pasadena High School in 1972, I earned a bachelor's degree in Astronomy from the University of California at Berkeley . My favorite football team is the California Golden Bears (GO BEARS!) whom I follow faithfully each year (always a character building experience).

After working for a number of years in private industry as an electronics engineer and production manager, I entered teaching. I earned my teaching credential and a Master of Arts degree in Education from the Claremont Graduate University in 1992. Since I started teaching, I have studied chaos theory and experimented with mathematical models of dynamical systems. I have also enjoyed the opportunity to pursue research astronomy having co-published articles in the October 1994 Astrophysical Journal Supplement and June 20, 1999 Astrophysical Journal reporting research which utilized the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996.

Dinner at the Claim Jumper in 2004. Left to right: Christina, Colleen and Ryan; in the second row: Sue, Tom, and Tom's mom (who blinked!).