My life thus far hasn¹t been all that exciting. My family is originally from the San Franscisco Bay area, but I was born on Sheppard Air Force Base in northern Texas. It was during the end of the Vietnam war; my father was serving out his ROTC obligations there. We soon moved back to Concord, California, where we lived until I was about 7. Then we moved to Richmond, VA, where I remained until college; my parents are still here, and there has been a "Eastward migration" of many other relatives.

I graduated from Midlothian High School, and then packed up the bags and headed back West to go to School at Stanford University. I really loved my time there. To be sure, I was confused about what I wanted to do with my life (like most people should be at university). I actually knew what I wanted to do, namely study the nature of intelligence and behavior, but how to accomplish that goal? I spent time in several departments including philosophy, chemistry, and symbolic systems (with a focus in A.I.), but ultimately decided to get my degrees in biological sciences and psychology. Most of my coursework was in neurobiology and neuropsychology. I also began working in research, looking at the effect of thyroxine on EEG (sleep) patterns in rats in Dale Edgar's Lab, and volumetric neuroimaging with MRI in dyslexia with Allan Reiss and Stephan Eliez.

After graduation, I took the summer off to direct ACE Computercamp at Stanford, then went back to work in the department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences' neuroimaging lab. I worked mostly in neuroanatomic and functional imaging of genetic syndromes, but had the chance to dabble in several projects, and learn from people from many fields (neuroscience is great like that.). It was one of the greatest times of my life.

Stanford also is near and dear to my heart because it is where I met my wife, Kate. Our personalities are pretty similar; we both like the simple things in life. Where we differ, our strengths and weaknesses complement each other well. She-meticulous, analytical, practical, and compassionate: I-disorganized, abstract, flexible. We were married in August, 2001 at Cannon Beach, Oregon, one of our favorite places. About that same time, I moved back to Richmond to begin my first year at MCV, and Kate soon joined me. We really have been enjoying it here. We have a little house in a nice neighborhood with a back yard, a dogŠthe whole domestic life. As a kid I thought Richmond was nice, but I don¹t thing that I realized how much fun it can be to live in a small city, or how much there is to do as a young adult in Richmond. I loved living in Palo Alto, but the expense, traffic, and crowding became unbearable. Richmond is pretty, cheap, and clean. I guess that¹s a good thing since we¹re going to be here for a while.