A native of Wisconsin, Dr James L. Gutmann received his DDS. in 1970 from Marquette University School of Dentistry and his Certificate of Advanced Specialty Training in Endodontics from the University of Illinois College of Dentistry. After serving two years in the military at Ft Lee Virginia, he spent one year in full-time private endodontic practice in Springfield Massachusetts. He entered academia as an Assistant Professor of Endodontics at the Medical College of Virginia in 1975. In 1976, he was appointed as Chairman of the Department of Endodontics at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, University of Maryland at Baltimore. In 1982, Dr Gutmann was appointed as a tenured Professor and Chairman of the Department of Endodontics at Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas Texas.

Presently he is Professor and Director of the Graduate Endodontic Program within the Department of Restorative Sciences at Baylor. Dr Gutmann is a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Journal of Endodontics and the Arab Dental Journal, Editorial Board of the Journal of the History of Dentistry, and an Associate Editor of the International Endodontic Journal. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Association of Endodontists, serving as its President-Elect and he will become the 57th President of the AAE in 2000. He has presented over 500 lectures, papers, and continuing education courses in the United States and 33 foreign countries on six continents. Additionally he has authored or coauthored over 150 articles in both dental journals and texts that address scientific, research, educational, and clinical topics. He is the senior author of an endodontic text entitled Problem Solving in Endodontics published in its third edition in 1997. He is also the senior coauthor of the text entitled Surgical Endodontics, published in 1991 and reprinted in 1994 and 1998. In 1998, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Athens, Athens Greece for his contributions to dentistry and endodontics. In 2000, he will be honored as the Alumnus of the Year– Marquette University School of Dentistry.