Hello most gentle web browser,
I am Jim Coleman. On 10/25/2025, I gave a 20 minute talk of my career as part of being recognized by the Yale School of the Environment as a distinguished alum. The talk was titled "Finding meaning in academe: from plant physiological and ecosystem ecology to autism." Because it was well received, and tells a short narrative of my career and what matters to me, I linked the talk here because it is a good way to learn about me.
My dog, Brea, recently introduced me at Vanderbilt University from her podcast. Dogs with Autistic Humans. The video is 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. Take a second to enjoy it. It is actually a pretty good short introduction to me.
Being Jim Coleman means a lot of things. Below is a summary of some of those things, mostly related to work. I had an executive coach in Arkansas who told me (meant very positively) that I am a golden retriever. A person at the University of Idaho, many years ago, told me that I was a distinctive mix between being laid back and intense. Now I know that was autism speaking- I didn't know that then. In any case, if you imagine a human version of the personality of a golden retriever, who is an autistic empath, who also loves to argue even when I know I am wrong, and who screams at the TV during football games, you'll get a good sense of who I am.
After graduating with a degree in Forestry from the University of Maine in 1982 and a MS, MPhil, and PhD from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies/Yale Graduate School in 1987 (now Yale School for the Environment), I started traveling a circuitous path that led me metaphorically to the top of some beautiful mountains, to alder thickets so dense I couldn't see my hands, to bogs that almost swallowed me whole, and to many roads I never imagined traveling- some good, some bad. That trek continues.
And, I trek a lot. Adele Coleman has been very patient. Here is where I have been after Yale:
I have been married to my wife, Adele, for 28 years. Adele is retired from her role implementing and supporting electronic medical record systems. Adele now devours books, sings in several choral groups, is a watercolor artist and is an amazingly good and patient person. I have a stepson (Cecil) who is a talented musician. My interests include playing guitar and piano (I even sang most of his graduation speech in May 2025 and I write songs for my classes), bonding with the two dogs that adopted me and Adele, and kayaking on Lake Jeanette while thanking the herons and other birds for sharing their home. I am originally from Pittsburgh and an avid Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fan. In fact, my major claim to fame was being present in the stands at the game where Franco Harris made the "immaculate reception." Adele and I plan to stay in Greensboro. You'll understand why if you look at the Lake Jeanette tab. Plus, Adele is really tired of moving and I promised this was the last move.
Stroll Lake Jeanette did a story about our therapy dog Brea, but also includes information on me and Adele.
I am currently a professor biology at UNCG (a phased retiree that moved to 1/2 time on August 1/2025). I am a former Chief Research Officer, Dean, and Provost. I was elected as Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018 for my contributions to plant physiological ecology and building research infrastructure in universities and statewide. I was recognized in October 2025 as one of two distinguished alumni of the Yale School of the Environment (you can see an amusing post about that here). If you ask Chat GPT about my role in ecology, it will tell you that my work has been foundational, but then it only gets my work about half right. But I am not going to argue with AI.
This blog tells a story of my early research career.
I also care a lot about teaching. I can't help caring a lot about students, and they tell me that it matters a lot. The Student Government Association at UNCG made me their nominee for the UNC system's William Friday Lifetime Achievement award for serving students in 2025 as I headed into phased retirement. I didn't win. I knew I wouldn't win since the winners are almost always senior administrators. But, being nominated, by surprise, by students, as the sole nominee of a faculty of about 1,000, felt like winning the Nobel Prize given where my head is these days. You can see what over 160 students thought about me in Fall Semester 2025 and Spring Semester 2026 here.
My passion for facilitating every student reaching their full potential led to my appointment on the National Science Foundation's congressionally mandated Committee for Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, just as the Trump Administration started to reverse these sorts of efforts. For the moment, though, that Committee still survives.
I blog a lot on this website about, higher education, being autistic, nature, and hopefully more often in the future things that I hope readers find amusing. I have moved my writing to Substack but links to that work are included in the Blog Table of Contents.
I care deeply about higher education and worry that we are losing our way. That was one of the reasons for entering phased retirement. Here is a post about just how silly it is now to brag about being an R1 institution.
I discovered in my late fifties that I am a person on the autism spectrum. The assessment was transformational. It is as if I spent fifty-nine years thinking I was just a messed-up horse, only to discover I am a zebra. Knowing that I am a bit different than most of the others in the herd has been positively transformational. This led to me being an outside affiliate of the Vanderbilt University Frist Center for Autism and Innovation.
I am writing a book, Pathologically Genuine and I hired a great book coach, Zennor Compton. Another great former acquisitions editor, Jenny Baumgartner has also been really helpful at getting me started. Stacy Ennis is also an amazing book coach and editor for non-fiction writers and has been so supportive. I would recommend all three of these people highly if you are a new author.
Pathologically Genuine is my story of appearing highly successful while privately struggling to navigate the social world that everyone else seems to intuitively navigate. It also reveals a transformation when my struggles were given a name and a context late in my life. It’s a funny, emotionally honest, and empathetic look at what autism feels like from the inside, not what autism is. I also show how my being wired for radical authenticity has been an enormous strength, while at the same time has been a devastating weakness, in a world that needs genuine connection but is driven by unwritten social rules and expectations.
At its heart, the memoir is a story of paradox:
I have written essays that will be the basis of a narrative non-fiction memoir you can find them in my blog table of contents or on my Substack page and you can find draft chapters and stories that will be in the book. If you would like to check it out, I would suggest you read the first article to get a feel for the book. You can find some reader comments here.
I have started also started to be on panels to give my perspective on navigating higher ed as an autistic person. My interview with Dr. Barry Prizant and Dave Finch on Uniquely Human was aired on July 3, 2026. Uniquely Human is the #1 ranked podcast (by Goodpods), in several categories including neurodiversity, autism, ADHD, psychiatry and disability. The episode where Barry and Dave laugh a lot with me will be aired in July 2026. I am hoping I don't destroy their rating. You can also watch my interview with Dr. Keivan Stassun, Director of the Vanderbilt University Frist Center for Autism. Please contact me if you are interested and think I can help your organization or you. Happy to send you references for feedback on those who heard me speak.
I also am a member of the board of the Lionheart Academy of the Triad which is an amazing school for grade 4-12 autistic kids.
I suffered from challenges with serious depression and anxiety as many autistic people do. SSRIs probably saved me. I do everything I can to destigmatize mental health challenges and spend a great deal of time with students helping them. Students tell me this has meant a lot to them. You can read several student comments in this Substack post about how I communicate with students about mental health. You can also read a story where that transparency came back to bite.
I would always rather be with a dog- a common trait for many autistic people. Brea (English Cream Golden Retriever), one of two current canine companions (Kira [Bichon Frise] is the other companion), is now a certified therapy dog with Dogs with a Purpose. UNCG students love her as do the autistic students at the Lionheart Academy. staff and members of Sanctuary House, staff, patients and their families at AuthoraCare, Beacon Place, Hospice, and students at the Noble Academy. Brea is always happy to volunteer if she is invited. Brea missed out on the golden retriever genes for retrieving and swimming, but she had multiple gene duplications with respect to being calm and loving people. Brea derives great pleasure from friendly attention from any member of the Homo sapiens species.
Brea, is starting a series of short videos to help explain autistic traits to middle schoolers or just for fun..
I play guitar and piano and write songs for classes. Much to my surprise, students actually think I play and sing well- even when they have no need to. I mostly played guitar and sung as the speaker at the Biology Department's May 2025 graduation ceremony. You can find a recording of it here. There are also songs for ecology (BIO 301), evolution (BIO 330) and the biosphere (BIO 431).
l am a reformed administrator who returned to a faculty role after 25 years from the dark side as a former provost, former dean, and former chief research officer. That return wasn't my choice, but it was one of the best decisions the universe made for me. You can read ad nauseum about my administrative experiences and accomplishments by clicking the "Curriculum vitae" tab. In all of those roles I was dedicated to the transformational mission of higher education and making institutions better.
You'll see in my curriculum vitae that I'd like to think I made important contributions as a senior leader, but that may be a self-delusion. Administrators can achieve success by empowering others or saying "yes" or "no" at the right times or hiring and/or empowering great people. I do feel like I did that.
You will probably also note that I don't do a good job of keeping a boundary between the professional and the personal. This is a symptom of being pathologically genuine- a phenotype of my autism. As you might imagine that phenotype can be a superpower or kryptonite at the same time.
There are many great things of no longer being an administrator. The only upside of being a senior administrator I see these days was getting paid three times as much as a faculty member, but now I am not sure if the stress was worth it. A great upside of not being a senior administrator is that I am totally done with dress shirts, suits and ties. It's t-shirts, baggy pullovers, blue jeans and sneakers forever, except for funerals or weddings. One autistic trait I have is that I dress totally for comfort and I have no idea why anybody else would care how I dress. I react negatively to people in expensive suits and perfect pocket scarfs.
My hobbies have mostly been working for 40 years, so moving to retirement is going to be interesting. I have started writing and have written over 100 blog posts and substack articles since 2022. The other major hobby I have is our canine companions who bring us joy every day. Braiding Sweetgrass was a transformational book for me in how I experience nature. So, you will also find me kayaking around Lake Jeanette talking to the herons and every other organisms, thanking them for sharing the lake with me. I also hike around doing the same thing. I can also be found in front of the TV intensely watching the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins. I don't scream at the TV as much as I used to.
I used to really enjoy college sports, but the University of Arkansas cured me of that hobby. It just means too much to people- way more than the value of the university as an academic institution. And, once I got to UNCG my dislike of NCAA Division 1 athletics increased. 85% of the UNCG athletics department's budget is from mandatory student fees specifically to support athletics- around $800/year/student. Over 60% of our students are Pell eligible, over 50% are first-generation, roughly 50% are transfers, mostly from community colleges. I am in awe of the financial, familial, and logistical challenges students overcome just to get to class. Few have time to go to athletics events. I think it is unfair that 85% of the burdens fall on students. So, UNCG has only depressed any interests I had in NCAA Division 1 sports.
I am Jim Coleman. On 10/25/2025, I gave a 20 minute talk of my career as part of being recognized by the Yale School of the Environment as a distinguished alum. The talk was titled "Finding meaning in academe: from plant physiological and ecosystem ecology to autism." Because it was well received, and tells a short narrative of my career and what matters to me, I linked the talk here because it is a good way to learn about me.
My dog, Brea, recently introduced me at Vanderbilt University from her podcast. Dogs with Autistic Humans. The video is 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. Take a second to enjoy it. It is actually a pretty good short introduction to me.
Being Jim Coleman means a lot of things. Below is a summary of some of those things, mostly related to work. I had an executive coach in Arkansas who told me (meant very positively) that I am a golden retriever. A person at the University of Idaho, many years ago, told me that I was a distinctive mix between being laid back and intense. Now I know that was autism speaking- I didn't know that then. In any case, if you imagine a human version of the personality of a golden retriever, who is an autistic empath, who also loves to argue even when I know I am wrong, and who screams at the TV during football games, you'll get a good sense of who I am.
After graduating with a degree in Forestry from the University of Maine in 1982 and a MS, MPhil, and PhD from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies/Yale Graduate School in 1987 (now Yale School for the Environment), I started traveling a circuitous path that led me metaphorically to the top of some beautiful mountains, to alder thickets so dense I couldn't see my hands, to bogs that almost swallowed me whole, and to many roads I never imagined traveling- some good, some bad. That trek continues.
And, I trek a lot. Adele Coleman has been very patient. Here is where I have been after Yale:
- Stanford U. (Postdoc)
- Harvard U. (Postdoc)
- Syracuse U (Assistant and Associate Professor)
- National Science Foundation (program officer for ecological and evolutionary physiology)
- Desert Research Institute (ultimately Vice President for Research and Business Development)
- University of Missouri (Vice Chancellor for Research)
- Rice University (Vice Provost for Research)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU; Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences)
- Northern Arizona University (Provost)
- University of Arkansas (Provost)
- University of North Carolina- Greensboro (UNCG; Provost) and then Professor and Graduate Program Director, department of Biology, back to a phased retiree professor.
I have been married to my wife, Adele, for 28 years. Adele is retired from her role implementing and supporting electronic medical record systems. Adele now devours books, sings in several choral groups, is a watercolor artist and is an amazingly good and patient person. I have a stepson (Cecil) who is a talented musician. My interests include playing guitar and piano (I even sang most of his graduation speech in May 2025 and I write songs for my classes), bonding with the two dogs that adopted me and Adele, and kayaking on Lake Jeanette while thanking the herons and other birds for sharing their home. I am originally from Pittsburgh and an avid Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fan. In fact, my major claim to fame was being present in the stands at the game where Franco Harris made the "immaculate reception." Adele and I plan to stay in Greensboro. You'll understand why if you look at the Lake Jeanette tab. Plus, Adele is really tired of moving and I promised this was the last move.
Stroll Lake Jeanette did a story about our therapy dog Brea, but also includes information on me and Adele.
I am currently a professor biology at UNCG (a phased retiree that moved to 1/2 time on August 1/2025). I am a former Chief Research Officer, Dean, and Provost. I was elected as Fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018 for my contributions to plant physiological ecology and building research infrastructure in universities and statewide. I was recognized in October 2025 as one of two distinguished alumni of the Yale School of the Environment (you can see an amusing post about that here). If you ask Chat GPT about my role in ecology, it will tell you that my work has been foundational, but then it only gets my work about half right. But I am not going to argue with AI.
This blog tells a story of my early research career.
I also care a lot about teaching. I can't help caring a lot about students, and they tell me that it matters a lot. The Student Government Association at UNCG made me their nominee for the UNC system's William Friday Lifetime Achievement award for serving students in 2025 as I headed into phased retirement. I didn't win. I knew I wouldn't win since the winners are almost always senior administrators. But, being nominated, by surprise, by students, as the sole nominee of a faculty of about 1,000, felt like winning the Nobel Prize given where my head is these days. You can see what over 160 students thought about me in Fall Semester 2025 and Spring Semester 2026 here.
My passion for facilitating every student reaching their full potential led to my appointment on the National Science Foundation's congressionally mandated Committee for Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, just as the Trump Administration started to reverse these sorts of efforts. For the moment, though, that Committee still survives.
I blog a lot on this website about, higher education, being autistic, nature, and hopefully more often in the future things that I hope readers find amusing. I have moved my writing to Substack but links to that work are included in the Blog Table of Contents.
I care deeply about higher education and worry that we are losing our way. That was one of the reasons for entering phased retirement. Here is a post about just how silly it is now to brag about being an R1 institution.
I discovered in my late fifties that I am a person on the autism spectrum. The assessment was transformational. It is as if I spent fifty-nine years thinking I was just a messed-up horse, only to discover I am a zebra. Knowing that I am a bit different than most of the others in the herd has been positively transformational. This led to me being an outside affiliate of the Vanderbilt University Frist Center for Autism and Innovation.
I am writing a book, Pathologically Genuine and I hired a great book coach, Zennor Compton. Another great former acquisitions editor, Jenny Baumgartner has also been really helpful at getting me started. Stacy Ennis is also an amazing book coach and editor for non-fiction writers and has been so supportive. I would recommend all three of these people highly if you are a new author.
Pathologically Genuine is my story of appearing highly successful while privately struggling to navigate the social world that everyone else seems to intuitively navigate. It also reveals a transformation when my struggles were given a name and a context late in my life. It’s a funny, emotionally honest, and empathetic look at what autism feels like from the inside, not what autism is. I also show how my being wired for radical authenticity has been an enormous strength, while at the same time has been a devastating weakness, in a world that needs genuine connection but is driven by unwritten social rules and expectations.
At its heart, the memoir is a story of paradox:
- how authenticity can be both a superpower and a liability,
- how someone can appear accomplished while struggling to navigate the world, and
- how a late diagnosis can reframe and clarify without resolving the challenges of being autistic.
I have written essays that will be the basis of a narrative non-fiction memoir you can find them in my blog table of contents or on my Substack page and you can find draft chapters and stories that will be in the book. If you would like to check it out, I would suggest you read the first article to get a feel for the book. You can find some reader comments here.
I have started also started to be on panels to give my perspective on navigating higher ed as an autistic person. My interview with Dr. Barry Prizant and Dave Finch on Uniquely Human was aired on July 3, 2026. Uniquely Human is the #1 ranked podcast (by Goodpods), in several categories including neurodiversity, autism, ADHD, psychiatry and disability. The episode where Barry and Dave laugh a lot with me will be aired in July 2026. I am hoping I don't destroy their rating. You can also watch my interview with Dr. Keivan Stassun, Director of the Vanderbilt University Frist Center for Autism. Please contact me if you are interested and think I can help your organization or you. Happy to send you references for feedback on those who heard me speak.
I also am a member of the board of the Lionheart Academy of the Triad which is an amazing school for grade 4-12 autistic kids.
I suffered from challenges with serious depression and anxiety as many autistic people do. SSRIs probably saved me. I do everything I can to destigmatize mental health challenges and spend a great deal of time with students helping them. Students tell me this has meant a lot to them. You can read several student comments in this Substack post about how I communicate with students about mental health. You can also read a story where that transparency came back to bite.
I would always rather be with a dog- a common trait for many autistic people. Brea (English Cream Golden Retriever), one of two current canine companions (Kira [Bichon Frise] is the other companion), is now a certified therapy dog with Dogs with a Purpose. UNCG students love her as do the autistic students at the Lionheart Academy. staff and members of Sanctuary House, staff, patients and their families at AuthoraCare, Beacon Place, Hospice, and students at the Noble Academy. Brea is always happy to volunteer if she is invited. Brea missed out on the golden retriever genes for retrieving and swimming, but she had multiple gene duplications with respect to being calm and loving people. Brea derives great pleasure from friendly attention from any member of the Homo sapiens species.
Brea, is starting a series of short videos to help explain autistic traits to middle schoolers or just for fun..
I play guitar and piano and write songs for classes. Much to my surprise, students actually think I play and sing well- even when they have no need to. I mostly played guitar and sung as the speaker at the Biology Department's May 2025 graduation ceremony. You can find a recording of it here. There are also songs for ecology (BIO 301), evolution (BIO 330) and the biosphere (BIO 431).
l am a reformed administrator who returned to a faculty role after 25 years from the dark side as a former provost, former dean, and former chief research officer. That return wasn't my choice, but it was one of the best decisions the universe made for me. You can read ad nauseum about my administrative experiences and accomplishments by clicking the "Curriculum vitae" tab. In all of those roles I was dedicated to the transformational mission of higher education and making institutions better.
You'll see in my curriculum vitae that I'd like to think I made important contributions as a senior leader, but that may be a self-delusion. Administrators can achieve success by empowering others or saying "yes" or "no" at the right times or hiring and/or empowering great people. I do feel like I did that.
You will probably also note that I don't do a good job of keeping a boundary between the professional and the personal. This is a symptom of being pathologically genuine- a phenotype of my autism. As you might imagine that phenotype can be a superpower or kryptonite at the same time.
There are many great things of no longer being an administrator. The only upside of being a senior administrator I see these days was getting paid three times as much as a faculty member, but now I am not sure if the stress was worth it. A great upside of not being a senior administrator is that I am totally done with dress shirts, suits and ties. It's t-shirts, baggy pullovers, blue jeans and sneakers forever, except for funerals or weddings. One autistic trait I have is that I dress totally for comfort and I have no idea why anybody else would care how I dress. I react negatively to people in expensive suits and perfect pocket scarfs.
My hobbies have mostly been working for 40 years, so moving to retirement is going to be interesting. I have started writing and have written over 100 blog posts and substack articles since 2022. The other major hobby I have is our canine companions who bring us joy every day. Braiding Sweetgrass was a transformational book for me in how I experience nature. So, you will also find me kayaking around Lake Jeanette talking to the herons and every other organisms, thanking them for sharing the lake with me. I also hike around doing the same thing. I can also be found in front of the TV intensely watching the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Penguins. I don't scream at the TV as much as I used to.
I used to really enjoy college sports, but the University of Arkansas cured me of that hobby. It just means too much to people- way more than the value of the university as an academic institution. And, once I got to UNCG my dislike of NCAA Division 1 athletics increased. 85% of the UNCG athletics department's budget is from mandatory student fees specifically to support athletics- around $800/year/student. Over 60% of our students are Pell eligible, over 50% are first-generation, roughly 50% are transfers, mostly from community colleges. I am in awe of the financial, familial, and logistical challenges students overcome just to get to class. Few have time to go to athletics events. I think it is unfair that 85% of the burdens fall on students. So, UNCG has only depressed any interests I had in NCAA Division 1 sports.