James R. Matey received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1973, followed by a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois during the period from 1974 to 1978. In 1977 he joined the David Sarnoff Research Center and resigned from the Sarnoff Corporation in 2008. While at RCA he worked to develop processes for using instrumentation, measurement and analysis systems, and industrial uses for videodiscs and kinescopes. In addition, he enhanced the development of microscopy, many of the records of which are included in his papers at Hagley. He was awarded 21 patents for his work. His work to develop an iris recognition system which captures recognition of an iris in the body of someone in motion was particularly well received.

Following his work at RCA, Matey accepted a post at the U.S. Naval Academy as research professor in the Biometric Signal Processing Laboratory. When his appointment came to a close in 2012, Matey joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a staff member.

During his career Matey was elected to Phi Kappa Phi honor society, Sigma Xi honor society for scientists, the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association of Computing Machinery. He served on the Board and as Consulting Editor of the Review of Scientific Instruments. Matey also was an adjunct professor at LaSalle University from 1983 to 1987, and at Rider University from 2000 to the present.