Jim received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in French and German. After a Fulbright scholarship in Germany, he went on to complete an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from the University of Chicago under the direction of Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow. As a tenured professor at St. John’s College, he spent 15 years teaching the Great Books curriculum in Santa Fe. In 2006, Jim moved to British Columbia to help found and then lead Quest University Canada, a new liberal arts and sciences college. He has traveled extensively in Europe, and has been fortunate enough to study Russian in Moscow, and to have had Visiting Professor positions in Germany, Bhutan, and Hong Kong.

Twenty years ago, when living in Portland, Jim founded the Delve program with the Chairman of the Board and the Director of Literary Arts. He taught the first seminars in the pilot project, which has since flourished into the wonderful Portland institution it is today. He is delighted to return to Portland and to Delve.