Dr. James McNamara, a graduate of the University of California Berkeley, received his dental and orthodontic education at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Doctorate in Anatomy from the University of Michigan, finishing in 1972. He serves as the Thomas M. and Doris Graber Endowed Professor of Dentistry in the Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology in the University of Michigan Medical School and Research Scientist at the Center for Human Growth and Development.

Dr. McNamara was the recipient of the Milo Hellman Research Award given by the American Association of Orthodontists in 1973 and was the E. Sheldon Friel Memorial Lecturer of the European Orthodontic Society in 1979. He also received the Research Recognition Award of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in 1983. He was the 1997 recipient of the BF Dewel Biomedical Research Award of the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation and received the James E. Brophy Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Orthodontists in 2001.

Dr. McNamara has maintained a practice limited to orthodontics in Ann Arbor since 1971, practicing with Drs. Patrick Nolan, Kristine West, and Donald Burkhardt. They treat patients jointly. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthodontics and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists. He also served as the Chairman of the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Association of Orthodontists from 1993-1996 and is Editor-in-Chief of the 38 volume Craniofacial Growth Monograph Series published through the University of Michigan. Dr. McNamara has presented courses and lectures in 27 countries. He also is founding director of the Graduate Orthodontic Residents Program (GORP), now in its 13th year.

Jim and his wife Charlene live in Ann Arbor. Their daughter Laurie is a dental student at the University of Michigan, and their son David is an undergraduate at Indiana University.