[1] After growing up in Rockville, Maryland, James (Jim) Donald Lawrey attended Wake Forest University (B.S.
He gained his doctorate from Ohio State University in 1977 working on the plant, lichen and fungal communities in an abandoned coal mine, supervised by Emanuel Rudolph.
[2] After the award of his doctorate in 1977, he was immediately employed by George Mason University and was promoted to full professor in 1993 where he remained throughout his career.
[2][3][1] The focus of his research is fungal diversity and ecology and he particularly makes use of molecular phylogenetics, utilising DNA sequencing to identify fungi and assesses relationships between species.
In 2021 he was awarded the Acharius Medal by the International Association for Lichenology for his outstanding lifetime achievements with lichens.