Professor James Luginbuhl attended Willamette University in Oregon and then transferred to Stanford University, earning his B.A. in Psychology in 1963. After serving two years in the Peace Corps in El Salvador, he entered the graduate program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving his M.A. in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1970, both in Social Psychology. He was on the faculty at North Carolina State University from 1970 until his retirement in 2002. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Professor Luginbuhl's research focused on psychology and the law, particularly on the death penalty. He also served as a jury consultant in numerous capital trials.