He was president of the American Association of Geographers from 1951 to 1952,[5] and gave the annual presidential address at their 1966 banquet.
[8] He decided to join the military and fought in World War I,[9] then returned to Harvard to complete a B.A.
In 1943, James was raised to the rank of Lieutenant colonel, and he served as the head of a geographic division during World War II.
[2] Following the war, in 1945, James accepted an offer from George Cressey to join the faculty of Syracuse University, where he earned the title Maxwell Professor of Geography in 1964, and became emeritus in 1970.
[14] Though the specific date ranges are unknown, he also served as adjunct professor of geography at Florida Atlantic University during the 1970s.