Introducing 2013 MCBF Moderator, Jim Schmidt

Jim Schmidt is a bio-analytical chemist by training and profession. He attended Benedictine College (Atchison, KS), received his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Central Oklahoma, and pursued graduate work in environmental science at the University of Oklahoma. Jim has worked in a number of private, government, and industrial laboratories for the past twenty five years, and is currently employed as a research scientist with a biotechnology firm in The Woodlands, Texas.

Jim has had a life-long interest in history, with special interests in the Civil War and 19th-century medicine and science; his historical writing credits include more than sixty articles for numerous publications including North & South, Civil War News, Chemical Heritage, Learning Through History, and Antique Bottle & Glass magazines, and many others.  He has also given lectures on history to groups throughout the country.

Jim is the author, editor, or contributor to five books, including Lincoln's Labels: America's Best Known Brands and the Civil War (sole author, 2008); Years of Change and Suffering: Modern Perspectives on Civil War Medicine (editor and contributor, 2009); Notre Dame in the Civil War: Marching Onward to Victory (sole author, 2010); Galveston and the Civil War: An Island City in the Maelstrom (sole author, 2012); and Civil War America: A Social and Cultural History (contributor, 2012).

Jim also enjoys seeing other people achieve their goals of seeing their writing get published and offers writing workshops and other coaching.

Jim’s wife is an elementary teacher in the Conroe Independent School District and his sons are graduates of Oak Ridge High School.  His daughter, a graduate of Texas Tech, was married last summer and she and her husband live in Lubbock, TX.