About Me

I was born and raised in Johnstown, PA. At that time, Johnstown was a steel and coal town. My grandfather and my uncle were coalminers. That industrial era ended in 1977 when Bethlehem Steel laid off 4,000 workers. So, by the time I graduated from high school, I had experienced boom times as well as the bust. Many of my friends’ fathers lost their jobs, disrupting their lives. I attended the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, where I double-majored in biology and chemistry. Then I earned my Ph.D. in botany from the University of California, Berkeley. My first job was with a company growing various algae for specialty chemicals and natural products with medicinal applications. As a manager of a team of 4 scientists, our task was to determine the best methods for culturing algae and optimizing production of the desired chemicals. After 3 years, I returned to UC-Berkeley where I was the senior scientist in the lab of a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Our lab studied fundamental mechanisms of growth and cell division in bacteria. We also studied the genetic transformation of plants by bacteria. I trained and supervised graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. I also helped manage a $1 million annual budget. I retired from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2021 after 31 years.

While in California, I met and married my wife. We have two sons who have gone on to successful careers in tech and healthcare and to start their own families. After we retired, my wife and I wanted to return to the east to be close to friends and family. As both of us grew up in the east, we also wanted to return to four seasons and the unique beauty of the Appalachian Mountains. After our retirement reconnaissance, we decided to move to the Berkeley Springs area. Ultimately, we ended up in a 1920 farmhouse in Great Cacapon. One of our activities has been tending to a large garden; we enjoy the satisfaction of growing our own food. And every time we drive past the Panoramic overlook of the Potomac River on Highway 9, we are reminded of how deeply fulfilled we are by moving to this part of West Virginia.