Who is Dr. James F. Weiher?

Brief Biography

James Weiher was born over 70 years ago. His ancestors came from the Hinterpommern and Hanover regions of Germany. He was educated in public schools, Carleton College, Northfield Minnesota (BA 1955), Johannes Gutenberg Universität, Mainz, Germany and Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa (PhD 1961). Since 1961 he has been a full time resident of the State of Delaware.

At Carleton College he was graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi and was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship to work with Prof. Dr. Straßmann at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität and Prof. Dr. Seelmann-Eggebert at the Max Plank Institute in Mainz, Germany. While at Iowa State University he worked with Prof. Adolf F. Voigt and accepted the first Postdoctoral Fellowship of the DuPont Company to work with Dr. W. D. Phillips. He remained with DuPont in the Central Research Department at the DuPont Experimental Station until 1986 when he retired to become an independent consultant.

His scientific interests include the structure and properties of molecular and solid state materials, the application of radiochemical techniques to determine structure and kinetics, the behavior and development of heterogeneous catalysts in chemical processes and manufacturing and the use of computers in scientific research and business.

In the 1970s he was active in the United Way of Delaware, Toastmasters International and the Lutheran Church serving in a variety of local and regional capacities. Building on his involvement with the use of computers in scientific reseach, he became interested in the 1980s in microprocessors and the application of personal computers in home and business environments. Since 1996 he has been a member of the Academy of Lifelong Learning of the University of Delaware, where he teaches The German Seminar and the German Film/TV Discussion Group and is interested in new methods and techniques in teaching foreign languages in mature adult environments.

After an emergency coronary angioplasty and stent placement following an abnormal stress test, he became interested in the role life style plays in maintaining a healthy heart and in reversing heart disease and in the role the mind-body connection plays in maintaining a healthy body. He came to realize that a low fat diet (especially low in saturated and trans fat), as shown in the pioneering work of Nathan Pritikin and the research of Dean Ornish, M. D., is expecially important. Relaxation and meditation, as shown in the pioneerng research of Herbert Benson, M. D. are vital in handling stress and tension and developing the mind-emotions-body communication that is vital in health. Regular aerobic exercise and weight training in a controlled environment under the supervision of professional exercise physiologists and cardiac professionals, as found at the Eugene du Pont Preventative Medicine and Rehabilitation Institute, are vital additional elements in keeping the body healthy.

Work History

• Alcoa Aluminum Corporation of America, Bettendorf, Iowa 1953
• Institute for Atomic Research, Ames, Iowa 1954, 1957-1961
• Los Alamos Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 1955
• Fullbright Fellowship, Mainz, Germany 1955-1957
• E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware 1961-1986
• J. F. Weiher Consulting, Wilmington, Delaware 1986 -

Languages:

• English
• German
• APL
• FORTRAN
• C
• RS1/RPL
• Postscript
• HTML
• Operating System and Command Languages Mac OS
Univac, PDP-10, MIC, Vax, UNIX, DOS [I don’t do Windows -;) ] • Various other extinct/archaic languages