Jeff James is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business and Leadership at Eastern University. He teaches a variety of marketing topics, including consumer behavior, digital marketing, marketing research, among others. 

Jeff has an extensive background as a marketing leader in corporate environments (Microsoft, HarperCollins Publishers) and startups (Mythology, Target Audience Insights). At Microsoft, he held a number of marketing roles in B2C and B2B environments, including serving as Director of Relationship Marketing for Microsoft’s U.S. Enterprise division and Group Manager of Industry Marketing at MSN. At HarperCollins, he served as Vice President of Marketing and founding publisher of the HarperCollins Leadership imprint. Jeff developed and applied the Ten Pillars of Meaningful Marketing at Mythology for clients such as Aetna, Cisco, Computer Associates, and the International Justice Mission, and he most recently led the development of Target Audience Insights, a market research and AI-enabled content optimization service for content publishers and creators. 

Passionate about the elevation and inclusion of all people in our diverse and ever-changing world, Jeff co-founded the economic development non-profit Create West Virginia in his native state to help stimulate entrepreneurship and the innovation economy. His dissertation research focuses on the intersection of diversity and innovation, and he has written a book and speaks frequently on DEI topics. He has four daughters, lives with his wife Soni in Philadelphia, and is a lifelong Sixers fan from the days of Dr. J., Daryl Dawkins, and World B. Free.