James M. Donovan was born in Huntington, NY, on August 11, 1948. He earned his Ph.D. in History from Syracuse University in 1982. From 1983 to 2021, he taught at Penn State Mont Alto, where he rose to the rank of Professor and is now Professor Emeritus. His field of expertise is modern French history. Donovan's scholarly work includes the book Juries and the Transformation of Criminal Justice in France in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (2010), along with a book chapter and numerous articles on crime and justice in France since 1789. His research has appeared in prestigious journals such as Journal of Social History, French Historical Studies, French History, Law and History Review, American Journal of Legal History, and Criminal Justice History: An International Annual.

A lifelong fascination with Dracula has recently inspired Donovan to turn his childhood interest into a focus of scholarly inquiry.