My formal education includes a BS from Cornell and a PhD from Texas A&M.
I have lived in seven states and two countries, the result of varying careers and my following job opportunities. I have managed teams of consultants, small divisions of companies; and, as an independent, basically ran a Fortune 100 company for six months.
Early on, one life changing experience was the Peace Corps in Guatemala, 1968- 1970. Guatemala was a much more primitive country then and in the midst of a US- sponsored civil war: the US against the Guatemalan people, purported to be funded by communists, so it was a mini-cold war that became very hot. I lived the last 6 months under a state of martial law. The result: >200,000 dead and 1,000,000 refugees (which is why there are so many Guatemalans in DC to this day!). However, for me, it was an incredible opportunity to learn another language and live another culture. I was forever changed in outlook and gained survival skills for the corporate world (and for entering the gay community at age 51).
Researching this book is really the first time I have used my biology knowledge since the early 80s, having moved into the world of computers and statistics. I worked for a number of environmental consulting firms before becoming a project manager in the field of Information Technology. Two positions are noteworthy. One was working for Dun and Bradstreet in Puerto Rico saving their enterprise network installation at the Universidad de Puerto Rico. The other was managing the payroll conversion, and. essentially, the consolidation and move of Sodexho from Boston to Germantown, MD. I was recognized as the project manager of last resort – the one to call when others with better paper credentials continued to fail.
I have never done the same job twice and on paper, rarely appear to have the qualifications for any job in which I excelled.
A few other high points include: creating the world’s largest estuarine data base (Hudson River) as a part of the Texas Instrument’s team working for ConEd, and designing, managing the installation, and running the enterprise network for SRI Technology which included a Sun Server running Oracle, three locations and >100 workstations with internet access (and this was in 1992).
In 2000, having grown frustrated with the corporate world, I started a small landscaping firm in DC where I specialized in cleaning up properties so their owners could get maximum value from new curb appeal.
In South Florida, I was a substitute teacher for 2 years – every grade, every subject including 5 weeks of algebra and geometry, honors Spanish, as well as music (Montessori school). I spent a very poignant 5 weeks at a ‘cluster’ for emotionally disturbed and violent 5th graders. Using yoga and energy, I created a unique classroom where bouts of violence decreased from several incidents a day to 1 in two weeks.
I retired following my parents’ death in 2010.
On a cycling trip in the middle of the woods in 2011, the title of my book just came to me out of the blue. I bought an iMac computer, became an expert in iBookAuthor, and wrote the first draft of Everything A Gay Man Needs to Know about HIV, Sex and Staying Healthy in 9 months. I am thrilled to be writing for the Huffington Post – my first column was published in June of 2013. And look forward to the release of my much edited, revised, and augmented book in late fall of 2013.
I have lived in seven states and two countries, the result of varying careers and my following job opportunities. I have managed teams of consultants, small divisions of companies; and, as an independent, basically ran a Fortune 100 company for six months.
Early on, one life changing experience was the Peace Corps in Guatemala, 1968- 1970. Guatemala was a much more primitive country then and in the midst of a US- sponsored civil war: the US against the Guatemalan people, purported to be funded by communists, so it was a mini-cold war that became very hot. I lived the last 6 months under a state of martial law. The result: >200,000 dead and 1,000,000 refugees (which is why there are so many Guatemalans in DC to this day!). However, for me, it was an incredible opportunity to learn another language and live another culture. I was forever changed in outlook and gained survival skills for the corporate world (and for entering the gay community at age 51).
Researching this book is really the first time I have used my biology knowledge since the early 80s, having moved into the world of computers and statistics. I worked for a number of environmental consulting firms before becoming a project manager in the field of Information Technology. Two positions are noteworthy. One was working for Dun and Bradstreet in Puerto Rico saving their enterprise network installation at the Universidad de Puerto Rico. The other was managing the payroll conversion, and. essentially, the consolidation and move of Sodexho from Boston to Germantown, MD. I was recognized as the project manager of last resort – the one to call when others with better paper credentials continued to fail.
I have never done the same job twice and on paper, rarely appear to have the qualifications for any job in which I excelled.
A few other high points include: creating the world’s largest estuarine data base (Hudson River) as a part of the Texas Instrument’s team working for ConEd, and designing, managing the installation, and running the enterprise network for SRI Technology which included a Sun Server running Oracle, three locations and >100 workstations with internet access (and this was in 1992).
In 2000, having grown frustrated with the corporate world, I started a small landscaping firm in DC where I specialized in cleaning up properties so their owners could get maximum value from new curb appeal.
In South Florida, I was a substitute teacher for 2 years – every grade, every subject including 5 weeks of algebra and geometry, honors Spanish, as well as music (Montessori school). I spent a very poignant 5 weeks at a ‘cluster’ for emotionally disturbed and violent 5th graders. Using yoga and energy, I created a unique classroom where bouts of violence decreased from several incidents a day to 1 in two weeks.
I retired following my parents’ death in 2010.
On a cycling trip in the middle of the woods in 2011, the title of my book just came to me out of the blue. I bought an iMac computer, became an expert in iBookAuthor, and wrote the first draft of Everything A Gay Man Needs to Know about HIV, Sex and Staying Healthy in 9 months. I am thrilled to be writing for the Huffington Post – my first column was published in June of 2013. And look forward to the release of my much edited, revised, and augmented book in late fall of 2013.