James M. Lapeyre Jr. was born in 1941 in Louisiana and represents the third generation of the Lapeyre family leading Laitram, a privately held manufacturing company renowned for inventing the first practical crawfish peeler in 1949 and developing other food processing technologies. Under his leadership as president of Laitram LLC, the company has expanded into international markets with operations in seafood, airport baggage handling, and LED lighting systems, and remains headquartered near New Orleans in Harahan, Louisiana. Lapeyre earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University in 1963. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Cato Institute and has been a significant donor and leader in libertarian and free-market advocacy circles, reflecting his ideological commitments. No major controversies or legal issues are publicly documented in relation to his career.