Biography

James Marx Ayres was born in Pomona, California. November 28, 1922. His father was a Presbyterian minister who became a Socialist and then a Communist. His mother was a noted sculptor and painter. Mr. Ayres ( named after Karl Marx ) and his three brothers and two sisters grew up in Southern California, primarily in Inglewood and Redondo Beach.

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1943 with a degree in mechanical engineering and served in World War 2 as an engineering officer on the submarine USS Bowfin (now a national monument in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii). After the war, Mr. Ayres obtained a Masters degree in mechanical engineering form Purdue University in Indiana, specializing in solar and radiant panel heating of buildings. He was active in campus progressive politics at Purdue and later at the University of California, Berkeley, while working on a Doctoral degree. Mr. Ayres was active in the Students for Wallace and a speaker before 4,000 students during the 1948 Progressive Party campaign to elect Henry Wallace for President.

After one year of teaching at the University of California, Mr. Ayres returned to Los Angeles and entered the consulting engineering field, specializing in the design of building mechanical service systems He became chief mechanical engineer for a large architect/engineering firm in 1952. During this period he was active in the Independent Progressive Party, continued his semi-professional singing career including membership in the Earl Robinson Chorus at the California Labor School. In 1951, Mr. Ayres married Anita Landa (a concert pianist and political activist), and for a few years they performed concerts together for various progressive organizations. However, with the arrival of three children, Marx focused more of his time on his engineering work and Anita on providing piano lessons in the home studio.

Mr. Ayres started his own engineering firm in 1956, and later joined with Hayakawa to form Ayres & Hayakawa. Under his leadership the firm grew to become one of the largest amd most successful engineering companies in Los Angeles. In 1974, he formed Ayres Associates to specialize in the research of earthquake damage to building nonstructural systems, and the application of computers in the design and analysis of building energy systems including: solar heating and cooling, off-peak cooling, and other innovative heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Mr. Ayres has been in responsible charge of the design of hundreds of major building projects, including high rise offices, commercial centers, hospitals and laboratories, hotels and residential buildings, universities and colleges, schools, theaters and entertainment centers, jails and correctional facilities, TV and sound studios, governmental buildings and industrial facilities.

Mr. Ayres has published extensively and received significant awards for his engineering work. He has displayed a sense of social responsibility by his activism in professional and public service organizations. Mr. Ayres has served on Building Code Advisory committees for the City of Los Angeles, the California Building Standards Committee, and the International Conference of Building Officials. He has also served on the California Department of Health Building Safety Board, and the Seismic Safety Commission. Mr. Ayres has been active in numerous community organizations, and is past president and currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research.

Mr. Ayres is a yoga enthusiast and he lives in Santa Monica with Fran Ayres, his long-term (unmarried) partner since 1985.