James W. Willingham was born March 8, 1923, in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended elementary and secondary schools in Jacksonville and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1941.

During WW II, he served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. After the war he entered the University of Florida. He continued in the military reserve, and at the time of his death in 1964 he was a member of the 3294th Air Force Reserve Recovery Squadron and had attained the rank of Major. He was awarded the BSF with high honors in 1949 and the MSF in 1950 by the University of Florida. In 1956, he earned the Ph.D. degree at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Willingham's career in forestry education and research began at the University of Florida when he was appointed Instructor in 1950 and served in that capacity until 1955. He was promoted successively to Assistant Professor in 1956 and to Associate Professor in 1960. Dr. Willingham excelled both as teacher and researcher in his fields of specialization -- photogrammetry, mensuration, and statistics. He was a contributor and authored numerous technical articles published in the Journal of Forestry, Forest Science, Forest Products Research Journal, and the Journal of Photommetric Engineering. He was engaged in cooperative research with the Florida Forest Service and with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, studying the correlation between site quality of forest soils and tree growth.

Dr. Willingham served as Acting Director of the School of Forestry for the period 1962-63. In 1964, he served unofficially as Assistant Director of the School of Forestry.