James D. Spain received his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1951 from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) in Houghton, Michigan. He then carried out graduate research on the early biochemical changes in liver cancer development in rats before earning his doctorate in chemistry from Stanford University. In 1956, Dr. Spain returned to Houghton and joined the faculty as a assistant professor of chemistry and was promoted to associate professor in 1959. In 1962 he was appointed head of the newly formed Department of Biological Sciences, developing a curriculum which emphasized quantitative biology, biochemistry and biophysics. Spain returned to full-time teaching after six years and began researching physical and chemical limnology and oceanography. He was joined by several other Michigan Technological University professors in forming a Lake Superior Research Group. During this same period, Spain explored the use of programmable calculators as a way of simulating dynamic processes in biochemistry and ecology. This work evolved into a course on biological simulation techniques and funding by the National Science Foundation for microcomputer modules for use in teaching biology and ecology. Dr. Spain retired from Michigan Technological University in 1984, then spent a year at Eastern Michigan University as director of instruction computing and visiting professor of chemistry. He then became a visiting professor in charge of the Instructional Computer Center for Chemistry at Clemson University.