James Cardie is from Brainerd, a small town in central Minnesota. He attended Catholic grade school in Brainerd and a boarding high school in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.

James earned an undergraduate degree at Holy Cross in western Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He did research (physical experiments and numerical modeling) at St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, created a computer program that was used in the design of many large storm sewer systems