Jim Tatum received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. He is founder and CEO of Dallas Quantum Devices and previously worked at Honeywell International Inc, USA, and Finisar Corporation, USA.

Since the start of his career in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), Tatum has been a leader in the research, development, and commercialization of VCSELs. He was a part of the Honeywell team that offered the industry’s first production VCSEL in 1996. Subsequently, he fostered and led the team that commercialized data communications VCSELs at speeds up to 28Gbps, developed and productized single mode polarization controlled VCSELs, and pioneered the development of two-dimensional VCSEL arrays in consumer electronics. Hundreds of millions of these VCSELs are in use and continue to be deployed today.

Tatum has published more than 75 technical papers and holds over 50 patents. He has been invited to give numerous presentations on a variety of topics and coauthored, VCSEL Industry: Communication and Sensing. In 2022, he received the David Richardson Medal, "for significant contributions to the development and commercialization of VCSEL technology."