Jim graduated from the Goodman School of Drama, Art Institute of Chicago, in 1971 with an M.F.A. in Directing. As a director and teacher he worked in Portland, Oregon, where he chaired the theatre department at Lewis and Clark College. He was also a founder of the Oregon Free Street Theatre. Jim's interest in the work of Jerzy Grotowski led him to associations with Grotowski and his group in the United States and in 1979 he traveled to Poland to participate in a paratheatric project entitled Tree Of People. Jim's directing credits at The Theatre School include Angels In America : Parts I and II and Pirandello's Six Characters In Search Of An Author. Other directing credits include the U.S. premiere of Slawomir Mrozek's A Summer's Day at Eclipse Theatre and JABOA Theatre Company's The Big Funk by John Patrick Shanley. Jim directed a production of Colleen Wagner's The Monument at Victory Gardens Theater, a joint production of JABOA Theatre Company and DePaul University. Jim served as Chair of the Performance Department and head of the Directing Program at The Theatre School.