James P. Simmer received a BS in Zoology (1976) and DDS (1980) at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor; a PhD in Biochemistry (1990) at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a post-doctoral fellowship (1991-1993) under at the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology (CCMB) University of Southern California School of Dentistry. Dr. Simmer was Assistant Professor (1993-1999) and Associate Professor with Tenure (1999-2002) in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; Associate Professor with Tenure (2002-2005) Professor with Tenure (2006-2024); Active Emeritus Professor (2024-present) in the Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, University of Michigan School of Dentistry. As of this writing (November 2024) Dr. Simmer has authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 80. Dr. Simmer credits his success to working closely with many brilliant scientists, most notably Hal Slavkin, Alan Fincham, Jan C-C Hu, Jung-Wook Kim, Shih-Kai Wang, Charlie E. Smith, Tian Liang, and John Bartlett. Dr. Simmer is known best for his contributions in the areas of tooth development (dentin and enamel formation) and dental genetics. Keywords: Enamel, Dentin, Teeth, Amelogenin, Enamelin, KLK4, MMP20.