Dr. James G. Speight CChem., FRSC, FCIC, FACS earned his BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Manchester, England. He also holds a DSC in The Geological Sciences (VINIGRI, St. Petersburg, Russia) and a PhD in Petroleum Engineering, Dubna International University, Moscow, Russia). Dr. Speight is the author of more than 50 books in petroleum science, petroleum engineering, and environmental sciences. Formerly the CEO of the Western Research Institute (now an independent consultant), he has served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical and Fuels Engineering at the University of Utah and in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Wyoming. In addition, he has also been a Visiting Professor in Chemical Engineering at the following universities: the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Technical University of Denmark, and the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr. Speight was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1996 and awarded the Gold Medal of Honor that same year for outstanding contributions to the field of petroleum sciences. He has also received the Scientists without Borders Medal of Honor of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 2001, the Academy also awarded Dr. Speight the Einstein Medal for outstanding contribution and service in the field of geological sciences.