I received a B.S. in Physics from the University of South Carolina where I received excellent training in the fundamentals of physics (in spite of myself, the beer and the ladies), worked closely with John Safko and spent way too much time at the Melton Memorial Observatory. After a short stint as a programmer for Uniroyal (their stock has never been the same since I left), I departed for Music City to make my fortune as a country and western singer. Failing at that, I did manage to earn an M.S. in Astronomy from Vanderbilt University and their fine Department of Physics and Astronomy where I did my research under the delightful and steady guidance of Doug Hall.

Having all that schooling and needing a break, I decided to take a year off to hike and photograph along the Appalachian Trail. Ironically one of my childhood friends now works for the Appalachian Trail Conference, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of the Appalachian Trail as a primitive setting for outdoor recreation on foot. Also ironically my year of hiking was interrupted by an urgent need for a chemistry and physics teacher at the prep school where my Dad taught.

After a year of prep school teaching along with coaching track, studying plant taxonomy and invertebrate zoology and doing research on leaches, I began my work toward an Ed.S. degree in Science Education from George Peabody College for Teachers. After earning my degree Peabody offered me a faculty position, then abolished my job the day I started work (I did get to teach the year of my contract), after which Peabody became insolvent with my departure and gave itself to Vanderbilt and is now the School of Education for Vanderbilt University. After appointments at a couple of prep schools teaching mathematics, chemistry and physics as well as coaching track, I was fortunate to have Fred Watts offer me a temporary position in Physics at the College.

Temporary became permanent and I have now been on the faculty of the College full time since the fall of 1981. I can't believe it has been that long. I live not far from school with my bride Maria and our two children Sam and Nifty-Tom both of whom are felines.

• Aspheric Mirror Optics Testing
  I am collaborating with a Wally Scrivens (a chemist in industry) and Jay Ruff, a postdoc in biochemistry at USC in Columbia in making spun-cast polymer telescope mirrors. I am working on the dinamics of the spinning process, performing optical testing on these mirrors and investigating finite element analysis of the mirror structure.
  
• Small Bodies of the Solar System
  In the last few years I have become more and more interested in the small bodies of the solar system, especially meteors and NEOs (near Earth Objects). I have several possible undergraduate student projects possible in this area.
• Physics Demonstrations
  My interest in experiments executed using every day materials and the teaching of physics and astronomy principals using such demonstrations goes back to my elementary school days when I was fascinated by the experiments my teachers would conduct..
• Introductory Astronomy Lab Curricula
  Sky-based astronomy lab curriculum materials are a longtime interest. I am always writing new materials or revising and updating activities my department has used in the past.
• Public Science Education
  Community outreach programs on science (especially physics and astronomy) in area schools, and with non-school groups as well has always been a strong interest of mine.

• Sea kayaking
  I have three sea kayaks including one I built myself and have rebuilt once and am in the process of rebuilding again-it is stripped to the frame hanging in the garage. I have done a solo kayak down every foot of the navigable parts of the longest blackwater river in the world and plan some day to make a solo trip along the inside passage from Vancouver Island near Seattle to Glacier Bay Alaska.
• Landscape photography
  I enjoy landscape photography with 6x7 and 4x5 cameras. I often include the moon and planets as visual elements and use desktop planetarium programs such as Voyager and Starry Night to calculate the rising times and directions of astronomical objects in order to plan photos.
• Nature Studies
  I enjoy studying nature including plant-insect symbiosis, insect life cycles, and spider natural history. I especially like making close-up photographs of these subjects.
• Older Home Repair and Restoration
  Thanks to my bride Maria who forced me to buy a house, I have become interested in house repair and restoration. Our house is about a 100 years old and was build at a time when homes were constructed better than they are today. As caretaker of the older home, I feel a responsibility to make proper repairs and have enjoyed learning about house work. Every part has a job with physics and chemistry being essential elements in understanding how each part serves the function of the house.