1. Tell me about yourself. What is your educational background and where have you worked previously?
I am a native Californian who grew up in Southern California. I moved to the East Coast to attend graduate school settling in Pittsburgh after I accepted a faculty position at Slippery Rock University over 26 years ago. An interesting, fun fact – my father grew up in Pittsburgh and moved out to California as a young man and two of my adult daughters now live in San Francisco. So apparently, each successive generation in my family relocates from Pittsburgh to California or California to Pittsburgh. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of California, Riverside in Psychology, my M.A. in Student Affairs at Ohio State University, and my Ed.D. in Human Development and Psychology at Harvard University. Before becoming a faculty member I worked as a Resident Director at the University of California; Davis, Director of Residence Life at Menlo College (Northern California); and Dean of Students at Wells College (upstate New York). I have the distinction of being one of the few men to ever serve as Dean of Students at an all womens’ higher education institution. When not teaching or doing research, I am an avid Major League Baseball fan (I follow the Pirates and the LA Angels), a music and film buff, and a doting grandfather.
2. What attracted you to Slippery Rock University, and in particular, the College of Education?
When I finished my doctorate at Harvard, I knew I wanted to teach in a graduate program educating students to work as Student Affairs educators. The College of Education at Slippery Rock had a growing Master’s program in Student Affairs, but no full-time faculty members. I was intrigued with the opportunity to be the first tenure track faculty member in the program, and to be able to further build and grow a relatively young graduate program. Over 26 years later, with the help of a number of good faculty colleagues, we have built a solid, respected Student Affairs M.A. program that places students in key leadership positions at colleges and universities across the country every year.
3. What is your favorite course to teach? Why?
I actually have three favorite courses that I developed and now regularly teach – Lifespan Development and two semesters of a course on College Student Learning and Development. I had the wonderful opportunity to take courses from, do research with, and teach with a number of renowned developmental psychologists while at Harvard (Erik Erikson, Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Robert Kegan), and I enjoy teaching students about the value and utility of applying developmental theory to the work of Student Affairs and Counseling. Student learning and development should be the central mission of colleges and universities, so it is critical that higher education professionals and counselors know how to support students in that development.
4. What is your favorite aspect of working in Counseling and Development?
The favorite aspect of my job is working with talented, caring students who want to make positive contributions to the lives of others, and having some small part in giving those students the tools to meet their professional goals and aspirations in their chosen helping profession. I also enjoy having the opportunity to engage in interesting research with my colleagues. Dr. Don Strano and I are currently conducting cross-cultural research, interviewing higher education institution professionals in Western Europe exploring how they provide essential student affairs and counseling services to their students.
5. What were you like as a college student?
I loved my undergraduate college years! I immersed myself in the college experience, particularly in the co-curriculum. I worked at the campus radio station, I was a member of two rock bands, and I served on and was President of the Campus Programming Board. I remember myself as fun, invested in my friends, and a somewhat better than average student.
6. What do you know now that you wish you would have known as a college student?
I wish I would have better known that we grow most in life from taking reasonable risks even if the outcome is not what we had hoped for. We learn most from our challenges (and often mistakes) in life, so we shouldn’t try as hard to avoid them. When an interesting opportunity presents itself, even if it scares us, we should try and find a way to say yes.
