Jim is a furniture maker whose works have been viewed widely over the past fifty years at venues including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Auckland Memorial Museum, the University of Iowa Museum of Art, the University of Oregon Museum of Art, the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the North Carolina Museum of History, and the National Ornamental Metals Museum.

His non-profit leadership roles included serving as President of the College Art Association, President of the National Council of Arts Administrators, and as a Director for the Michigan Youth Arts Festival.

Academic appointments included serving as Head of the Studio Art Program at Penn State, Chairperson of the Department of Art, Art History, & Design at Michigan State University, and Senior Associate Dean in the College of Fine Arts at Western Michigan University. He also held appointments at the Massachusetts College of Art, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Skidmore College, University of Michigan, and North Carolina State University.

Jim maintains an art/design studio in Traverse City, MI. He also maintains an active practice as an academic and strategic planning consultant, site visitor, personal coach, and training workshop leader for numerous institutional clients. This work is often focused on aligning clients with the US national higher education standards in art and design published by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

He earned a MFA degree from University of Michigan, a MA degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a BA degree from Michigan State University, and retired as a Professor Emeritus of Art.