Conrad D. James (born 1974) is a politician and scientist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education James was born in Columbus, Ohio, where he graduated from Walnut Ridge High School. He received a B.A. summa cum laude in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1996. He went on to earn a M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2002) from Cornell University in applied and engineering physics. His doctoral dissertation focused on the fabrication of microelectrode arrays to monitor the electrical activity of in vitro neural networks as a function of network architecture. Career Sandia National Laboratories Since 2002, James has been employed as a researcher at the Sandia National Laboratories, where he develops biosensors. His work has included research into how immune cells respond to pathogens in the first minutes of exposure and investigating the performance of engineered neural networks. James' research has been published in Journal of Fluid Engineering, Applied Physics Letters, Neurochemical Research, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Nanotechnology, and Biomed Microdevices. James also holds several patents. New Mexico legislature In 2010 James ran unopposed to represent district 24 in the New Mexico House of Representatives. In the legislature he served on the appropriations committee and elections committee and received a "Spirit of Bipartisanship Award" from New Mexico First, a civic group founded by Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici. In 2012, along with state senator Nancy Rodriguez, James received a "Soaring Eagle Award" from the New Mexico Association of Counties for "leadership in securing legislation vital to protecting and advancing county interests." He was defeated by Democratic Party challenger Elizabeth Thomson in 2012, losing by less than 300 votes. James in turn defeated Thompson by about 400 votes in 2014. In November 2015, James announced he would not seek reelection. James endorsed Christina Hall, an Albuquerque chiropractor and former Miss New Mexico, to succeed him. University of New Mexico board of regents In 2013 James was appointed to a five-year term on the board of regents of the University of New Mexico. Following his appointment, James said his priorities as a regent would include "evaluating the entrance and outcomes of underrepresented minorities at the university, and whether STEM graduates are going on to graduate schools and/or workforce" as well as developing partnerships with private and public sector groups to enhance the university's science and technology programs. Within the