James Horner was born in Highland Park, Michigan.  He started to draw at an early age and was exposed to the spirit of architecture by his grandfather, who was an architect and who had worked with Eliel Saarinen.  He received his architectural degree from Pratt Institute and later studied philosophy and anthropology at Harvard University. 

Following his formal studies, Mr. Horner received broad and varied practical training with several prominent architectural firms.  He worked, as a project architect, in the New York City firms of Ulrich Franzen and Associates, Leibowitz Bodouva and Associates, and the William Hall Partnership. 

Mr. Horner began private practice in 1976, became a partner in the firm of Horner Waisman and Associates, and subsequently established his present firm of James Horner and Associates in 1981.  He is a licensed architect in a number of states and holds the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certificate.

Mr. Horner’s memberships have included the national and local chapters of the American Institute of Architects and he was elected to the Mayor’s Panel of Architects, of the City of New York.  He was an instructor in architecture and interior design at the Parsons School of Design and was an adjunct instructor in architecture at the New York City Technical College, in Brooklyn.  He has served as a member of the Board of Directors and as chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee, of the Brooklyn United Methodist Church Nursing Home.