Well, here is a little about me--by way of the professional. I have an undergraduate degree in political science from USC. During my senior year I began working for a large (small then) political consulting/PR firm. At the time it was called Nelson/Padberg Consulting but in the years since, has undergone many changes and is now Nelson Communications Group. It is now one of the largest PR firms around. Back when I was with them, in the early 1980’s, things were different. NP was a small shop---did have some pretty big time clients though. After a couple of years in that business, I decided I needed to change. I decided to go back to school and study philosophy.

While in graduate school my parents moved to Australia. I lived down under with them for a while and studied at the Australian National University in Canberra. After I returned to California (my parents remained in Aus) I had an opportunity to take care of my grandmother. Tollie, as we called her, was a really neat person. Tollie developed Alzheimer’s (we assume—she may have had anoxia). I had no clue how to take care of her—remember, my parents were overseas. My mother tried to relocate Tollie to a small flat in Sydney, but that did not work—Tollie was a country person. I got frustrated really fast. One day while talking to one of my former (dear) professors at USC, William Lammers, he suggested I take a class or two in gerontology back at USC. Well, my career in philosophy was not going too far too fast (translation: I was interested in buying food some day), I decided to take a class in aging. Well, I took a few and after a while took them all (I graduated with my Ph.D. in 1995).

Tollie died in 1990 (right after I married Chris, my lovely wife) and I struggled through graduate school while working full time as an Administrative Manager with the Orange County Health Care Agency. I administered several of the county’s HIV/AIDS programs. These included meals-on-wheels, interdisciplinary case management, housing and companion services—a lot of the same things you find in aging services.

In 1995 I had an opportunity to teach at a university in Louisiana. I figured it was worth a try and left one bureaucracy for another. I taught at the University of Louisiana, Monroe for 3 years and during that time became fascinated by the Internet and its potential uses in distance learning. I left ULM in 1998 to help set up USC’s online gerontology program. After two years at USC, I had an opportunity to work at CSUF. I jumped at the chance and here I am. That takes us up to the present. I have not mentioned my research interests which include end-of-life care issues, assisted suicide, and technology and aging in general. That is the professional side of things.

Now for the personal. I am married (to Christine) and have two small children (Nicole and Lowell). I live in South Orange County and have, over the last couple of years become somewhat active in local issues. I am on the local school site council and also serve as the Treasurer of the local PTA. My family and I attend the Canyon Church in Anaheim Hills. I am also currently taking MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and MCDBA (Data Base Administrator) classes in my spare time. I enjoy teaching classes both onground and online. My hobbies include....nothing, I am a workaholic.