Dr. James is the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. He began his tenure at Clarion University in July of 2008. He was the Dean of Graduate Studies at Fayetteville State University from February of 2008 to June of 2008. He served as the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Fayetteville State University from August of 2004 – February 2008. He is also a full professor who specializes in Sustainable Development and Environmental Sciences with particular emphasis on the environmental issues of developing countries. He has held tenure track/tenured positions at University of Louisiana, Lafayette; University of Virginia in Charlottesville; Southern University in Baton Rouge, where he served as the Director of the Ph.D. Program in Public Policy and Interim Chair of the Master of Public Administration Department. He served as the Director of African Studies Program at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Dr. James has authored and edited fourteen books and several are forthcoming. He is the author of several scholarly articles in refereed journals and he is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (JSDA) – an online journal he founded in 1998 http://www.jsd-africa.com. He serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals and he is often sought after to provide lectures and opinions on matters concerning development and environmental issues of developing countries.

He is the recipient of scholarly awards such as: 1) The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Diplomacy Fellowship; 2) Fulbright –Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship and; 3) The University of California Presidential Fellowship. He has worked for the United States Agency for International Development. He has mentored three Teaching Fulbright Scholars from Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon and has served as the supervisor of two Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants from India and Afghanistan in 2006. In 2007, he mentored six Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) from Bahrain, China, India, Pakistan, Tanzania and Russia. In 2008, he set the stage for Fulbright Language Assistants (FLTAs) from Algeria, Bahrain, Nigeria and Tanzania to join Fayetteville State University in order to continue the work on the instruction of critical languages. In 1996, Dr. James organized an international conference on sustainable development in developing countries while he was on the faculty of the University of Virginia. In April of 2007, he organized the “First International Congress on Critical Perspectives on Energy, Environment, Technology and Water Development and Protection Worldwide.” The papers presented are forthcoming in the Journal of Global Development Studies and in a book. In April of 2008, he organized the “Second International Congress on Critical Perspectives on Energy, Environment, Technology and Water Development and Protection Worldwide.”

Dr. James holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas; an M.A. in Environmental Science from Governors State University, University Park, Illinois and a B.S. in Biology from Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tennessee. He studied liberal arts at the American College of Rome in Rome, Italy. He speaks several African languages and Italian and has lived in and traveled to many countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.

His current research focuses on the sustainability of the environmental/ecological systems of the emerging nations of the world. He is currently collaborating with several Chinese and African researchers at the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, China Agricultural University, University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin and the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). He has been instrumental in establishing study abroad programs with foreign institutions.

Dr. James’ teaching, research and outreach activities influence regional, national and global decision making processes that impact people in the United States and around the world. For a complete dossier which documents teaching, research, community outreach activities, and administrative experiences, please contact him at vjames@clarion.edu.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Clarion, Pennsylvania 16214-1232

814-393-2223 (phone); 814-393-2039 (fax)

vjames@clarion.edu

valentineudohjames@yahoo.com