I was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, which is probably most famous for being the home town of actor Jimmy Stewart. I grew up in rural Armstrong County PA where I was able to avoid wearing shoes most of the summer except for going to church and to town.
In 1970 I graduated with a BS degree in Chemistry from Indiana University of Pennsylvania . My cohort consists of the crest of the baby boomer generation. I benefited from the abundant scholarships and work study funding available then. Although my parents both had 8th grade educations, they were supportive. With the help of some excellent professors at IUP, I won admission and a Teaching Assistantship at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana IL and graduated in 1972 with an MS degree in Analytical Chemistry. Besides being a Teaching Assistant for the Quantitative Analysis course, I developed new lab exercises. The flame photometry determination of calcium in blood serum was adopted permanently. I also worked for the Civil Engineering Department in projects studying the chemistry of Portland Cement.
I have been a resident of Wisconsin since January 1984 when I moved to Ozaukee County. I eventually settled in downtown Milwaukee where I share a loft apartment with Ling Ling, a male seal point Siamese cat, and four Macintosh computers.
