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James Ness, PhD.

James Ness earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Developmental Psychology from Virginia Tech in 1988. He was direct commissioned as a Captain into the Medical Service Corps and was assigned as the chief of Human Factors Engineering at U.S. Army Test and Experimentation Center, Fort Ord, CA. Jim had a break in service and took a position as an assistant professor of psychology at Christopher Newport University where he established the Master of Arts in Teaching program. Jim returned to active service where he led research into the biological effects of non-ionizing radiation on the soldier. His work resulted in changes to the ICNRP and ANSI standards for long term viewing of near IR sources. As the Command Inspector General, NATO Training Mission/Combined Security Training Command – Afghanistan, Jim earned a Bronze Star for his efforts in reforming the Afghan National Military Hospital. While assigned as an Academy Professor at the US Military Academy West Point, Jim was director of the Engineering Psychology program. During his “regreening” tour, Jim was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Ground where he completed a model for entopic scatter of directed energy.

Jim was assigned to answer a Congressional under the National Defense Authorization Act to improve the tactical uniform for the Afghan National Army and answer a Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction finding concerning the tactical uniform. Jim earned the rank of Full Professor of Discipline at the US Military Academy, West Point teaching courses in Human Centered Design, Sensation and Perception, Experimental Methods, Human Factors Engineering and Biological Foundations of Behavior. Jim retired as a Full Colonel earning 2 Legion of Merit awards and professor Emeritus. Jim currently works as an Engineering Research Psychologist at the William J. Hughes Technical Center. His current project is to incorporate disembodied virtual humans in air traffic simulations to represent well the varied dialects, accents, and cultural pragmatics attributed to aviation mishaps as language barriers.

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