After a final loving Christmas with family, Dr. James D. (Dr. Jim) Boulgarides passed away peacefully on Dec. 28, 2016. Scholar, athlete, serviceman, statesman, teacher, and above all, husband, father, and grandfather, Dr. Jim was a proud first-generation Greek American who embodied the American Dream throughout his 93 years.
Born Sept. 10, 1923 to Elias and Metaxo Boulgarides in Philadelphia, Pa., Dr. Jim was raised in Jersey City. After graduating from Henry Snyder High School, he attended Cooper Union Engineering School while working as a ship fitter in Kearney, N.J. He served in the US Navy from 1943-1946 as an aviation technician.
After the war, he attended Columbia University, earning a B.S. in mathematics, and meeting the love of his life, Wanda Wilson in their German class. Jim and Wanda were married in 1952, the beginning of a 64-year love story.
Boulgarides also earned his B.S. in civil engineering from Cooper Union. He received a Masters Degree in Engineering Administration from the University of Utah, Salt Lake in 1966. Jim worked as an engineer for Boeing in Seattle, and as a program manager for Thiokol Chemical in Brigham City, Utah. He and his family moved to Culver City in 1966, when Jim became a manager at McDonnell Douglas Astronautics in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Jim taught business management at UCLA and USC as well as at Pepperdine University’s PKE Executive Program. In 1972, Jim was elected to the Culver City City Council after being urged to run by members of the community. He served a total of 16 years on the Council (1972-’80 and 1984-‘96), including two terms as Mayor (1974-75 and 1992-93).
He became “Dr. Jim” in 1973, earning his Doctorate in Business Administration from USC. Dr. Jim conducted management workshops internationally including Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Hong Kong. But his favorite was Hawaii, where he and Wanda would spend hours snorkeling the blue Pacific and watching Hawaiian sunsets with glasses of champagne. Dr. Jim was professor of Inter-Disciplinary Business Studies at California State University, Los Angeles from 1974 until he retired as professor emeritus in 2007.
In addition, Dr. Jim authored two books, and in 1988 was awarded his 3rd degree Black Belt in Shotokan Karate at the age of 57. Dr. Jim never stopped reading, writing, or learning. He is survived by his wife, Wanda, children Ann, Lois, James, and Louis, son-in-law Ed, daughter-in-law Peggy, grandchildren, William, Marina, Jacob, Samantha and Daniel, his sister Bert, and loving nieces and nephews. Dr. Jim was well loved and will be well remembered by all who had the privilege to know him. His was a life of great love, learning, and above all hard work.
