UCLA - double major in Physics and Biology graduated March 1986. Summer of 1986 - UCLA Orientation Counselor. Cancer Research through UCLA at the Sepulveda VAMC - 2 years. Entered Medical School at the Medical Cpllege of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI 1988 - MD in May 1992. General Surgery Residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin 1992-1999 with a 2 year Cardiothoracic research fellowship 1995-1997. Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at USC 1999-2002.

Entered Active duty with the Army July, 1992. After completing the Officer Basic Course at FT. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX, I was assigned to the Harry Truman VA hospital in Columbia, Missouri (which is where we have lived ever since). I have been deployed twice to Iraq - first to the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq (at Ibn Sina Hospital) Jan-Aug, 2004 and then again with the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, Iraq Aug 2009 - Jan 2010. I terminated service with the rank of LTC on July 4, 2012 with an Honorable Discharge after 10 years Active Duty service. My first deployment was the most memorable, dangerous and fulfilling and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I decided to stay on at the Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital where I recently became the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery - I currently work primarily as a heart surgeon with a focus on Beating Heart (Off-pump) coronary revascularization, complex aortic root and aneurysmal diseases, valve surgery and I hope to develop a minimally invasive program in the future.

I met my wife Kathleen in Milwaukee, in the OR where she worked as an RN. We married in July 1995.

I purchased my first "new car" in 2002...a Dodge Ram 1500!

Other than spending time at home, in my free time I like to exercise, target shoot (especially rifle), perform aftermarket modifications on my current truck and improve the home. I enjoy cooking (especially making Thai food), micro-brews, wine, fine dining, music and film, high end home audio and high end home theater.

I was suspended once for being, of all things, the "lookout" for another kid in my freshman first period social studies class (building 3) - I was literally being the usual nerd and waiting early for the library to open when I my classmate "recruited" me to be his lookout for the prank. At the time, I was a pacifist (and had no spine) and wanted no part, but, being a spineless (smaller) pacifist, I caved. He wanted to stick toothpicks in the door lock to the class and I even think he super-glued them into the lock...clearly a brilliant maneuver. I think our classroom was on the 3rd floor - yeah, like nobody will ever see that happening. Picture it: a kid on the top floor, looking over his shoulder and looking quite suspicious...nobody would ever notice that, would they? And even more absurd, what was I going to do anyway, yell from across the courtyard "someone is looking at you, stop whatever innocent behavior you are doing with that doorknob...did you hear me!"? Of course, a day or two later I was called at home on a Friday afternoon by the assistant principle (can't remember his name but he was kinda annoying). When he asked to speak with John Markley I stupidly said "he isn't here" (as if that were ever going to work)....5 minutes later he called back and the first words out of his mouth were, "you're suspended".

Such the NON bad-ass... I was so uncool.