James, L. Stanley

L. Stanley James, a physician and researcher in the physiology of the newborn and the fetus in the womb, was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand in 1925. He was educated at the University of Otago in New Zealand, receiving a medical degree in 1948. After completing his internship and residency at Auckland (NZ) Hospital, he spent a year in general practice before finishing a residency in pediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He then became chief resident in pediatrics at the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center in New York, N.Y. His interest in neonatology was sparked by Virginia Apgar, a 1929 graduate of Mount Holyoke College who spoke at Bellevue about her work in neonate resuscitation and obstetrical anesthesia. After spending a year as a research fellow in neonatology at the State University of New York, he joined Apgar at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City, where he was a research assistant in neonatal physiology in anesthesiology from 1955-1959. Through this research, he identified key factors that adversely influence the health of newborns. His findings led to improvements in the care of newborns through resuscitation and the management of asphyxiation. After Virginia Apgar developed the Apgar Score, used to assess infant condition following delivery, James conducted research with her that established the scientific basis for the score. Their research also showed how the score could be used to evaluate different methods of newborn resuscitation. James served as an assistant professor (1959-1967) and professor (1967-1993) of pediatrics and obstetrics-gynecology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. From 1961-1965, he was also assistant attending pediatrician at the Babies Hospital of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. From 1972-circa 1992, he was director of perinatal medicine at the Babies Hospital. James received the E. Mead Johnson Award and the Virginia Apgar Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Ronald McDonald Children's Center Charities award for his contributions for the care of the fetus and newborn infants. He lived in New York City and West Redding, Connecticut and died on August 4, 1994 at the age of sixty-nine while vacationing at Center Harbor, New Hampshire.

From the guide to the L. Stanley James Papers MS 0782., ca.1920-1994, n.d., (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)