Jim has directed at numerous regional theatres, such as the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, the Alley Theatre in Houston, Stage West in Massachusetts, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and the Wisdom Bridge and Northlight Theatres in Chicago among others. He has also directed for the Tony Award recipient Utah Shakespearean Festival and Great Lakes Shakespeare. He received the Cleveland Critics Circle Award and was nominated for Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award for Directing. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Penn State University, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree. He served as the president of the University/Resident Theatre Association and is presently the Vice President of the National Theatre Conference. His directing credits range from The Cherry Orchard, Tartuffe, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, Fuddy Meers, King Lear,  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and The Weir, to Fugard’s The Island, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead and Master Harold… He recently directed Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage… at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre and Peg O’ My Heart at Utah Shakespeare, and will be directing The Vertical Hour for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in January 2008. He has served as Chair and Artistic Director for Purdue University and the University of South Carolina where he continues to head the MFA Directing program. He has recently been appointed as a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the Universiti of Artistic and Creative Technologi in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.