Dr. James R. Marcus is a highly accomplished technologist – known for critical thinking
and innovative solutions – with a broad range of experience in Fortune 100 companies,
consulting, startups, and academia.
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.