James is head of Sasaki’s planning and urban design practice and chair of the Executive Committee. His portfolio of work spans across all scales and includes urban infill projects, new communities, strategic land development, and regional planning. James also has significant experience planning for colleges and universities.

James enjoys complex, challenging projects in which the process of reaching consensus or seeking public approval is intricate and demanding. His collaborative spirit provides his teams and clients with broader ownership of key issues and of the ideas that will ensure the success of each project. James also has a passion for innovation and is always looking for new ways to use technology to improve the planning process. He is currently using several new technologies in his work including interactive online community engagement tools and modeling software that ties metrics to urban design decisions in real time.

James holds a Master of Urban Planning from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and a Bachelor of Science in Art and Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is an active member of ULI and the APA.