William Jerry Chisum has been a criminalist since 1960. He studied under Dr. Paul L. Kirk at U.C. Berkeley, worked in San Bernardino, and set up the Kern County Laboratory in Bakersfield. After joining the California Dept. of Justice, he took a leave of absence (1971-73) to work at Stanford Research Institute. He has been President of the California Association of Criminalists three times, and has also served as President of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors. In October of 1998, he retired from 37 years of public service but continues working as a private consultant. An accomplished teacher and lecturer, he has also been published in many forensic science journals and books.