About Me
Jim Hutchins has been interested in neuroscience since his 6th grade classmates started calling him "Brains," a nickname he hated at the time but now embraces. He grew up in Golden, Colorado, and received his BA in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. While he was there, he attached himself to a mentor, Mark Dubin, who guided his career path toward research and teaching. Jim received an MA in neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD in neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. His PhD dissertation was entitled Evidence for Acetylcholine as a Neurotransmitter in the Human Retina, and he helped collect and process 101 human eye donations for his dissertation research. He asked to change the name of his doctoral dissertation to 101 Donations, convinced it would be a best seller, but his committee would not let him. Jim did his postdoctoral fellowship with Vivien Casagrande at Vanderbilt University and took a faculty position in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he moved up the career ladder. By 2005 he was assistant vice chancellor for faculty development and was named teacher of the year by both medical and dental students. In 2005 Jim moved to Weber State University where he still teaches in the Department of Health Sciences and Neuroscience Program. Jim loves developing curriculum, running, and writing—especially autobiographical statements.