James A. Harbach received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a master's degree in engineering from Cornell University. A professor of engineering at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, Harbach is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, the American Society of Naval Engineers, and the American Society for Engineering Education. Harbach is the author of Marine Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning and the coeditor of Modern Marine Engineer's Manual, Volume II, Third Edition.