I was born and raised in northwestern Wisconsin on a family dairy farm south of Barron, Wisconsin. I spent my summers helping with field work and my winters playing in the snow and cold. Early on I took an interest in things mechanical and physical processes in nature. At one time I was planning of becoming a meteorologist but I was always fascinated with the power of the nucleus. A discussion with my high school physics teacher my freshman year opened my mind to the fundamental nature of physics and lead to my desire to study physics.

I carried my interest in nuclear physics to UWRF where I studied physics. My upbringing on a dairy farm and continued work with my father and brother fueled my interest in experimental physics. I truly enjoyed the experiments that I performed while an UG even though some days it was harder than I would have liked. The methods and philosophy of UG experiments still influences my teaching to this day. While at UWRF, I was elected to be the president of the Society of Physics Students (SPS), which is the national physics club, the spring of my third year to replace the president who was moving on to bigger and better things. I served in this position until the end of my senior year when I graduated. As a physics club member and officer I helped with the biannual science day on campus which hosts high school students from around the local Wisconsin area. This event was and is still a great hit with the area high school students. I give many thanks to the professors of UWRF, both present and retired, for their tough love and guidance along with their humble impartation of physics into my thick skull. GO FALCONS!

After my undergraduate schooling, I decided to attend graduate school and study nuclear physics. I made this decision a month before taking the physics GRE exam. Not a good idea for those thinking about graduate school. It was not nearly enough time for studying for this exam and my score represented that fact. One should start studying one year in advance but at least the summer before if at all possible. Anyway, I was accepted at three schools even with a low GRE score and decided to attend Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. After pasting the Ph. D qualifying exams in January 2000 I began working with Dr. Bryon Anderson on what would become my dissertation experiment. Dr. Anderson is part of the Center for Nuclear Research (CNR) at Kent State and has been working in the field of nuclear physics for most of three decades now. His efforts and confidence along with timely advice kept me in graduate school and also influenced my continued focus on becoming an undergraduate professor rather than focusing on research and graduate schools. I completed my dissertation defense in August 2003 and graduated in December 2003.

Abbie and I meet in December of 2001. I was in Newport News, Virginia working on data analysis for my dissertation research. She was taking a couple of classes at Kent State University in Ohio to help in completing her degree at Northland College in Wisconsin. It all started from a letter I wrote to the editor of the Kent State student newspaper. The subject of the letter is no longer of importance but the fact that we met still remains. A few months later I moved back to Kent to finish up my degree and she moved to Ashland, Wisconsin to finish hers. Our backgrounds were very similar. She was born and raised in NE Ohio on a dairy farm and took an interest in meteorology. I was born and raised in NW Wisconsin on a dairy farm and took an interest in physics. We married December 20, 2003 in Alliance, Ohio and have been growing closer ever since. We where blessed with a daughter on November 8th, 2006. Elizabeth keeps us busy but is such a joy! A son Matthew joined us June 22nd 2008 and added to the joy and completed our family. We both enjoy hiking and camping and snow. We are excited about living in the UP and the Marquette area. We love being along Lake Superior with so many things to do and so much nature to enjoy. We have two cats, Callie and Tilly, which try to run the household.

Here is where my farm background shines through. During graduate school, a vacation was to return to my brother’s farm and help with field work. Anyway, I enjoy getting my hands dirty so anytime I can work on one of our Jeeps it’s a real joy. Someday I plan to restore antique tractors to their original condition but for now that will have to wait. In the mean time, my wife and I like to bike a bit and take hikes. Now that we live in the Marquette area we plan to take up camping and hiking even more. I also like to read books and think about the bigger picture of life. History and technology are high on my lists of books and television programs.