Background
Pirkl was born on December 27, 1930 in Nyack, New York, United States; the son of James and Ida Bertha (Gigrich) Pirkl.
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Pirkl received a Bachelor of Industrial Design degree from Pratt Institute in 1958.
Pirkl was born on December 27, 1930 in Nyack, New York, United States; the son of James and Ida Bertha (Gigrich) Pirkl.
Pirkl received a Bachelor of Industrial Design degree from Pratt Institute in 1958.
Pirkl served in the Sea Bees during the Korean War. In 1958, he joined the General Motors Company as a design staff. Three years later he took a position of a senior designer at the same company. Then in 1963, James was promoted to assistant chief designer of Frigidaire's Advanced Product Research Studio.
In 1965, he was appointed an assistant professor of industrial design at Syracuse University. Also Pirkl served as an associate professor at that university from 1969 to 1973. In 1974, he became a professor at Syracuse University. In 1976-1978, James was one of five United States industrial design educators sponsored by the United States State Department who conducted invited seminars on industrial design education at the All (Soviet) Union Research Institute of Industrial Design in Moscow and at the Bauhaus in Desseu. In 1978, he was named professor-in-charge of industrial design at Syracuse University. Then in 1985, Pirkl became the chairman of the design department, serving until his retirement as an professor emeritus in 1993.
In addition to his teaching career, he served as an industrial design consultant to a wide range of organizations both in the United States and overseas, including Age Wave, Inc., the Arthritis Foundation, Asahikasei Homes Co. (Japan), The Boeing Company, Design Age (London), Ford Motor Design Center, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, McNeil Consumer Products, the National Association of Home Builders and Xerox Corporation.
Pirkl is a member of the Author's Guild, a life member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and an accreditation evaluator for the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. He is a member of the Industrial Designers Society of America, where he served as a director and as regional vice president.
On June 8, 1974 James Pirkl married Sarah B. W. Woolsey. They have three children.