Data are presented on the reaction J/psi--> p pbar eta using 7.8 million J/psi triggers collected by the BEjing Spectrometer (BES). A partial wave analysis is performed. A clear enhancement near the p eta(pbar eta) threshold is observed. It is fitted with a JP=1/2- resonance with mass $M= 1530pm 10$ MeV and width $Gamma = 95pm 25$ MeV. In addition, there is a peak around 1650 MeV with JP=1/2- preferred also, fitted with $M =1647pm 20$ MeV and $Gamma = 145^{+80}_{-45}$ MeV. These two N* resonances are believed to be the two well established states, S11(1535) and S11(1650), respectively. It is the first partial wave study of the production of these resonances from J/psi decays.