James Puckette Carter, M.D., D.PH. served Vanderbilt School of Medicine as Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Instructor in Pediatrics beginning in 1966, rising to Associate Professor of Nutrition and Pediatrics before his departure to Tulane in 1976 where he became Chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Nursing Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine where he spent the remainder of his academic career. During his time in Nashville, he was also associated with Meharray Medical College where he was Director of the Maternal and Child Health Center.

Born in Chicago on October 7, 1933 to Dr. Morris and Ruth (Puckette) Carter, he received both his undergraduate and MD degrees from Northwestern University, and attained MS and DPH degrees from Columbia University School of Public Health and Administrative Medicine. Dr. Carter was an expert in malnutrition and hunger in underserved rural and urban populations in United States and Africa --particularly the effects of poor nutrition on growth and development. After retiring from Tulane, he moved to Mandeville, LA where he was director of a private clinic. He died on February 12, 2014.