He taught bioethics at the University of Rochester Medical School. In 2000 he became the first The Besl Family Chair in Ethics/Religion and Society at Xavier University. In 2003 he founded The Edward B. Brueggeman Center for Dialogue at Xavier, where he served as director until January 1, 2021. During his tenure as Director of the Brueggeman Center, he brought hundreds of speakers to Xavier, created and managed globally successful programs such as the exhibit A Blessing to One Another, and created the Winter-Cohen Family Brueggeman Fellows program which has sent students to 66 different countries pursuing research on a wide variety of topics. The Brueggeman Center has partnered with over 90 organizations worldwide.

Dr. Buchanan has delivered over 200 lectures and talks worldwide on issues ranging from interfaith relations; globalization; systems theory, global systems; refugee and immigration issues; comparative value systems; sustainability and biotechnology. He has also served on editorial boards such as Theoria and Islamic Studies. He has a long history of involvement in non-profit work both in the USA and globally. He has been part of the founding committees that have created numerous non-profits including: The Parliament of the World’s Religions, Refugee Connect, The Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, A Blessing to One Another, InterfaithCincy, Navdanya, EquaSion, Jubilee, The Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate and the Foreign Policy Leadership Council. He was an advisor to negotiations at the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development from 1989-1992 (in biotechnology); a board member of Friends of the Earth Asia; on the board of The Council for Responsible Genetics; member of The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum; board of OMID; senior advisor for the United States Global Leadership Council and a variety of other organizations. Locally he continues to serve on many non-profit boards and advisory committees including: RefugeeConnect, The Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, Compass (focused on Immigrants), The African Professional Network (APNET), OMID, The Midwest Regional Sustainability Summit, EquaSion, The Cincinnati Regional Coalition Against Hate, InterfaithCincy, A Blessing to One Another, Faith Communities Go Green and the Festival of Faiths. He has served on the Mayor’s Commission on Immigration and Mayor’s Steering Committee on the Green Cincinnati Plan. He is currently involved in a new social enterprise venture which includes two for-profit companies SolerCool and Soler Solutions that work with non-profits to bring solar-powered drip irrigation, fish farm aeration, water movement and refrigeration to subsistence farmers and communities in developing countries. The goal is to help address extreme poverty of farming communities by giving them sustainable technologies giving them control over energy, water and refrigeration, thus allowing them to be more profitable and not be driven off their land into the slums around cities.

He has received a numerous awards and recognition for his work, including: The Eternal Light Award from the Catholic / Jewish Studies Center; The Community Impact Award from the Junior League; The Sustainability Achievement Award from Green Umbrella; The Building Bridges Award from the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati; The President’s Award for Excellence from Xavier University; The President’s Award from the African Professional Network; Exxon Mobile Innovation Award; the Brueggeman Center is recognized as a Freedom Station at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Ohio Associated Press Award for Best Documentary 2006; and the Telly Award for the Best Marketing Video 2006. The University has built a “Dialogue Patio” behind the Brueggeman Center named for Dr. Buchanan with a plaque to honor his work. EquaSion, a non-profit focused on interfaith work, has named an annual award honoring his work: The James P. Buchanan Beloved Community Award.

He has published many articles and books on the topics ranging from comparative ethics to the social and environmental impacts of technological change. His publications include Changing Nature’s Course: the Ethical Challenges of Biotechnology, and two forthcoming books: Sacred Spaces: Experiencing Liminality; and Wagers into the Abyss: Ethics in an age of Global Systems.

He is married to Kyung Noh., MD. They love to travel, hike and kayak. He also skis, scuba dives and has raced sail boats. Both he and his wife are amateur landscape photographers which has taken them around the world to places such as Iceland, the Galapagos Islands, Patagonia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Papua New Guinea, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Eastern Europe, China, Tibet, and Australia, as well as many beautiful places in the US. In his spare time, he is an avid musician with two CD’s of original music produced and more in production.