Professor James Lam holds a BSc (1st Hons.) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manchester, and MPhil and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge. He serves as a Chair Professor of Control Engineering at the University of Hong Kong, where he joined in 1993. Before that, he held faculty positions at the City University of Hong Kong and the University of Melbourne. He is a Croucher Scholar, Croucher Fellow, Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and Cheung Kong Chair Professor.

He holds many professional designations, including Chartered Mathematician (CMath), Chartered Scientist (CSci), Chartered Engineer (CEng), and Fellow of several prestigious institutions such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (FIEEE), Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET), Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications (FIMA), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (FHKIE), Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (FAAIA), International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA), and a Distinguished Fellow of International Engineering and Technology Institute (DFIETI).

He serves as Editor-in-Chief for IET Control Theory and Applications, Journal of The Franklin Institute, Proc. IMechE Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering, Franklin Open, and IET Journal of Engineering. He has also held editorial positions in journals such as the Journal of Sound and Vibration, Asian Journal of Control, Cogent Engineering, International Journal of Systems Science, Automatica, and Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing.

His research contributions have been recognised through his inclusion as a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering / Computer Science / Cross-Fields. He was also honoured as a Highly Ranked Scholar (Lifetime) in All Fields of Scholarly Endeavor (2022). His WoS H-index ≥106, Scopus H-index ≥ 110, D-index ≥96 (World Ranking 149, National Ranking 11 in 2024), and Erdös number is 3.

Professor Lam is an elected Member of Academia Europaea, and an Academician of the International Academy of Systems and Cybernetic Sciences.