James Doran read mathematics at Hertford College, Oxford, and then became a specialist in artificial intelligence at the University of Edinburgh under the guidance of Donald Michie. He joined the Atlas Computer Laboratory, in 1969 and stayed until 1973 when he moved to the University of Essex in the Department of Computer Science. He formally retired in 2001 and is currently Emeritus Professor there. Throughout his career he applied statistical and computer methods in archaeology and anthropology. From this work arose his current interest in agent-based modelling and social simulation.