Ira Grinberg spent his formative years in Brooklyn, NY, and he received a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the City College of New York. Moving to Columbus, Ohio with his family in 1962, Ira did graduate work at the Ohio State University. Prior to making aliyah in 1980, he worked at Battelle Columbus Laboratories.

In Israel, he worked at Ormat Turbines Ltd. for one year, and then spent 16 years with the U.S.-Israel Bi-national Research and Development Foundation (BIRD F), where he last served as Associate Director. A resident of Rehovot since making aliyah, Ira joined the voluntarily unemployed in 1997.

Since retirement, he keeps busy by volunteering for ESRA, planning and taking trips abroad (primarily of Jewish interest and to visit his family) and roasting green coffee beans. He was widowed in July, 2018. Ira has three children, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild, with, hopefully, more to come.