Dr. Major worked as a physician and faculty member at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, where he specialized in diseases of the eye and corneal disorders. He was an avid birder and blossoming scientist when he lived in Georgia, published articles in The Oriole at a young age, and received his M.S. in Ecology at the University of Georgia under Dr. Eugene Odum. Dr. Major's widow Jackee and their son James Major, Jr. have generously provided this annual scholarship in order to promote an interest in birds and ornithology among young birders. James Jr. studied ornithology at the University of Texas where he received his Ph.D., and was one of the first recipients of GOS' H. Branch Howe, Jr. Graduate Student Research Awards (in 1996).