Where did you grow up?
Waterville, Maine
What is your academic background?
I majored in Classical Archaeology at Dartmouth, and also received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in the same field from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I also have a master’s degree in Education Leadership from Arcadia University, a small liberal arts college outside Philadelphia. (I love history, particularly anything having to do with classical studies, as well as world languages.)
What are you most excited about for your first year at Hopkins?
Getting to know the students, faculty, and staff, and the wonderful programs at Hopkins. I’ve read so much about this place over the past eight months, and now I’m eager to experience it all for myself. People keep mentioning the pizza in New Haven as well, which I haven’t tried yet… can’t wait.
What are your hobbies/what things do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I enjoy exercise (running, swimming, cycling, soccer, skiing), reading, spending time at the beach, as well as working to fix up our house.
What is your favorite book/movie/series/performance and why?
I loved the Harry Potter series--really interesting characters and plot, and the film adaptations were as good as the books. I also love J.K. Rowling’s crime mysteries, written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith (waiting for the sixth book in the series to come out at the end of August). She is an incredible storyteller!
Do you have any pets? Tell us about them!
My wife Katherine and I have two cats, Puffy and Slinky, who we found living in a dumpster when they were about 6 weeks old. They are sisters (we think) and are now 14 years old. They’re incredibly sweet, but, unfortunately, they’re very timid, which means that few people have actually seen them (they hide whenever we have visitors!).
What drew you to Hopkins?
The incredible sense of history, the intellectual vibrancy of the place, and above all the people I met during the search, who inspired me to want to join this community.
If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Probably any kind of pasta with bolognese sauce, plus a Caesar or arugula salad and pistachio gelato for dessert . . . all my favorite foods and flavors, mostly derived from the Mediterranean region.