James Nelligan is a veteran educator with more than thirty years’ experience teaching and leading in independent/international schools and universities. James holds a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities with Distinction from the University of Hawai’i, and a Master’s degree (all but dissertation) in the History of Science from the University of Illinois. He has extensive additional doctoral-level work in neuroeducation from Johns Hopkins University. ​

James has received numerous recognitions for his teaching, including the University of Illinois-Champaign Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2003) and U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Distinguished Teacher (2021). James has held senior leadership posts in schools for the past twenty years, including as Head of School at the Baldwin School of Puerto Rico (2012-2021), and Head of School, Pudong and Puxi campuses, Shanghai American School. He served as President of the Caribbean Association of Independent Schools from 2014-2020. James is also a Klingenstein Heads Fellow (2019 cohort), Teachers College, Columbia University. ​