James Marcus, Ph.D.

James attended Tufts University, School of Engineering, where he received his BS, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering. After graduating, he began a teaching career at The New York Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. During this time, he consulted with Fingermatrix, a digital fingerprint systems company. The lure of industry was great and James left academia.

In 1989, Dr. Marcus joined Pitney Bowes. Focusing on requirements engineering and consulting, he worked with internal and external stakeholders gathering and analyzing requirements leading to creative system improvements and innovations to further market and corporate needs.

It was at Pitney Bowes where James’ interest in information security, cryptography, and their practical applications began - an expertise he would use throughout his career. He led small teams developing prototypes for systems that produce non-forgeable electronic and printed documents. James received US Patent #5,864,622 and #5,384,846 for this and associated work. Dr. Marcus has defended this intellectual property in patent infringement lawsuits multiple times.

In 1993, James joined Verizon. There, he managed an RFP process and oversaw the implementation of an outsourced, private labeled Internet dial service. As part of the technical staff, he worked with customers and industry groups applying his security expertise to new system opportunities. This culminated in a secure web authentication and access control system based on the Public Key Infrastructure that was commercially available for over 3 years.

Capitalizing on the growth of the Internet and other industry trends, James started consulting companies Crosshair Communications Corporation in 1997 and Crossfire Consulting Corporation in 2000. Crosshair provided business, technology, and security services to such clients as the FCC, Lockheed Martin, Scitor, Pitney Bowes, and Verizon. Crossfire provides software development services on a project basis and for staff augmentation.

In 2004, James launched Courtyard Consulting Inc. to pursue smaller projects of personal interest. He has worked with Jeff Pulver as the director of technology commercializing a voice on the Internet service and as the CTO of Network2.tv, a startup specializing in Internet video aggregation. With a local software development company, he managed the redevelopment of The Best Life diet and exercise site. James has worked with a number of small organizations advising them on their Internet and communications strategies, as well as with a discount power company performing a security review of their customer registration process. Recently, James created and taught two training classes in mobile application development. He works with venture capitalists as a technology analyst, reviewing merger, acquisition, and capital raise opportunities. He has spent a considerable amount of time researching predictive analytics technologies and their application.

James attributes much of his success to a commitment to continuous learning. He plays the saxophone, flute, and clarinet on a semi-professional basis. He is an avid runner and a beginner golfer. He currently lives in Connecticut with his wife and two daughters.