James Watkins

James Watkins, PhD, is a professor of biomechanics in the School of Human Sciences and director of the Sport and Exercise Science Research Centre at the Swansea University in Wales. Watkins spent over 20 years in Glasgow, Scotland, as a lecturer and researcher, and he served as the head of the department of physical education, sport and outdoor education at Jordanhill College and later at the University of Strathclyde, both in Glasgow.

Watkins' main teaching and research specializations are musculoskeletal anatomy and the biomechanics of sport and exercise. He has authored over 80 publications, including three well-known textbooks (An Introduction to the Mechanics of Human Movement, 1983; this text, Structure and Function of the Musculoskeletal System; and An Introduction to Biomechanics of Sport and Exercise, 2007).

Watkins is a fellow of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), a fellow of the Physical Education Association of the United Kingdom (PEAUK), and an honorary member of the Association for Physical Education (afPE). He is an advisory board member of the Journal of Sports Sciences and a former chair of the Biomechanics Section of BASES.

In 1975 Watkins received his PhD in biomechanics from the University of Leeds in England. He resides in Swansea, where he enjoys walking, playing golf, and reading about the history of science.