This page describes a little bit of my background and my hobbies. My rationale for sharing is that I believe that knowing just a little bit about a person beyond their formal title or job duties goes a long way towards being comfortable enough to ask them for help, attend their office hours, or even just make small talk before/after class. From my own experiences when I was a student, I found it far too easy to think of my professors as nothing other than the job they are fulfilling, lacking in any sort of hobbies or interests that could ever align with my own. However, now that I’m on the other side I realize that professors are human beings with hobbies, interests, families, and all sorts of things outside of their work.

I currently live in the northwestern portion of Grinnell with my wife, Alissa, and two children (ages 5 and 1 as of 2025). I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, and have lived in various locations across the midwest including Iowa (Iowa City, Quad Cities, and Grinnell), Illinois (Chicago suburbs and Springfield), and Ohio (Cincinnati).

In my younger days I was competitive in many sports (football, basketball, track) and I currently spend the small amount of leisure time that I have lifting weights (more-so pre-COVID) and running. I was varsity cross country runner at Augustana College and, while I’m not nearly as fast as I used to be, I still enjoy training and running a few races each year. The picture of me comes from the 2017 Sno-fun-run. More recently I had the privilege of running in the 2024 Les Duke XC Invite as part of the Grinnell Alumni (depsite the fact that I’m not an alum).

Some of my other hobbies include: listening to music, my two all-time favorites are “Ocean Avenue” and “Mr. Brightside”, but I’ve lately been on an Alkaline Trio kick. I also enjoy solving crossword puzzles, playing trivia, following the Green Bay Packers and Iowa Hawkeyes, following economics/the stock market and watching/listening to documentaries or true crime shows or Podcasts like FBI files, Forensic Files, Masterminds, etc.