Dr. James E. Becvar has been a faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for 43 years and holds the rank of Distinguished Teaching Professor of Chemistry.

He was Project Director and Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded I-STAR program at UTEP (2007 – 2013), training and overseeing peer leaders in physics, mathematics, and chemistry in the theory and practice of cooperative, collaborative, team-based learning used in PLTL workshops.  He coordinates the UTEP Chemistry CirCus and holds nine US patents related to his research activities.

Dr. Becvar is a past President and current Board member of the Peer-Led Team Learning International Society, and Editor in Chief of Advances in Peer-Led Learning, the journal of the Society.