[3] Wait was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on January 23, 1924, received his BS (1948) and MS (1949) in engineering physics and his PhD (1951) in electrical engineering, all from the University of Toronto.
Between 1948 and 1951, he worked for Newmont Exploration in Jerome, Arizona, where his research led to several patents in both IP and EM methods of geophysical prospecting.
After a brief stint with the Defense Research Communications establishment in Ottawa, Wait first joined the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, and then NOAA; at each, he concentrated predominantly on theoretical aspects of radio-wave propagation.
He had two Children, Laura H Wait, born 1954 in Ottawa Canada.
Jim's son George, born in Boulder, CO in 1956, died in 2010 in Tucson, AZ.