James A. Glass holds a Ph.D. in architectural history and historic preservation planning from Cornell University, an M.A. from Cornell in the history of urban development, an M.A. in Latin American history from Indiana University, and a B.A. in history and Spanish from the University of Indianapolis. He is a 1970 graduate of Marion (Indiana) High School.

He has completed a fully illustrated two-volume history of architecture in Indianapolis between 1820 and 1920, published by Indiana University Press. Volume 1 covers the period 1820–1900, and Volume 2 covers the period 1900–1920. He is co-author of the book The Gas Boom of East Central Indiana (Arcadia Press, 2005) and has published articles on the Gas Boom in the Indiana Magazine of History and Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. He is also the author of The Beginnings of a New National Historic Preservation Program, 1957 to 1969 (Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, 1990). From 2003 to 2019, Glass wrote a monthly column on Indianapolis and Indiana heritage for the Indianapolis Star.

Subjects included columns for the Indiana Bicentennial on early Indiana communities, such as Vincennes, New Harmony, Corydon, New Albany, Madison, and Richmond; the modern architectural legacy of Columbus, Indiana; the former Coca-Cola Bottling plant in Indianapolis; the evolution of the City Market; the ethnic heritage of Whiting, Indiana; Indianapolis ranch-style houses of the 1950s; surviving motels on US 40; and Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Festival of Bean Blossom, Indiana.

Since 2013, Glass has presented illustrated public lectures on the architecture of other countries, based on his travels and research: Spanish Architecture, Architecture in Greece and Turkey, Roman and Renaissance Architecture, Chinese Architecture, Architecture in Mexico, and Architecture in London.