I was born and raised in Livonia, Michigan, just a few miles west of Detroit. I received a Bachelor of Science degree from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio and a Masters of Arts degree with a reading concentration from Northern Kentucky University (NKU), Highland Heights, Kentucky. Later, I achieved my Rank I in Educational Administration from both NKU and the University of Kentucky. I spent my first fifteen years teaching in elementary classrooms, grades 2-5, in northern Kentucky. The last nineteen years of my time in K-12, I spent in the ‘extended classroom’ as an elementary school principal in two school systems local to Louisville, Carroll and Oldham County. As an administrator, I was recognized with Outstanding Service Awards and when I retired from public schools in 2012 I was recognized as an Outstanding Administrator in Kentucky. I obtained my doctorate from the University of Louisville in 2008 with a focus in curriculum and instruction.
My wife and I attended grade school together in Michigan and then reconnected 17 years later in Berea, Kentucky at a Summer Dance Camp. After nearly 30 years we still are part of the contra dance community with the Louisville Contra Dancing Group.