Birck was born January 25, 1938, in Missoula, Montana, and grew up in Clinton, Indiana.
[2] Birck came to the public's attention in 1999 when the Chicago Bears football team appeared to be up for sale.
A radio show host on WSCR made the suggestion that Birck should buy the team.
He was a director at the Purdue Research Foundation and was on the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Krannert School of Management.
He was honored as a 2001 recipient of the IEEE Ernst Weber Engineering Leadership Recognition award.