Personal Background/Interests

Welcome! This page offers some personal background on me and my family (perhaps more than you wanted!).

First, for those of you who are really just looking for family photos, click here for my family photo page (warning: it's out of date; among other things, Brendan's now 6 feet plus tall).

Now on to the narrative (if anyone is still with me!).  My wife, Clara, and I live in the town of Lansing, NY, with our five children: Brendan (born January 1990), Mary Catherine (born March 1992), Joanna (born March 1994) and our identical twins, Julia and Elizabeth (born Christmas morning 1996). We moved to the Finger Lakes region of New York (and to my current position at Cornell University) in August, 1998, after almost four years in Logan, Utah, where I taught at Utah State University.

I grew up on the east coast of the United States, principally in Annapolis, Maryland, where my parents settled, in a home along a quiet creek off the Chesapeake Bay, when my father retired after twenty-some years and three wars as a Marine Corps officer. There he became a banker while my mom stayed home to raise me. My half-sister (Roxanne) and half-brother (Rebel) are both considerably older, so I essentially grew up an only child. Annapolis was a wonderful place to grow up, and I spent endless days on the water fishing, crabbing, sailing, swimming, water skiing, even skating in the colder winters. And like most boys raised in Maryland during the late 1960s and early 1970s, I became a passionate fan of the Baltimore Orioles. Brooks Robinson, the Orioles' Hall of Fame third baseman, was (and remains) my hero. Not only do I still follow baseball and the Orioles closely, if from afar, I also continue to collect sports memorabilia: baseball cards and anything having to do with the Orioles. This proves not only that my wife is a loving and patient woman, but also that some kids just never grow up.

I went to Princeton University, where I finally settled on a major in History, developed a deep fascination with the complexities of developing societies, joined the Army Reserve and ROTC, played lacrosse, chaired the Honor Committee, was involved in campus politics, and had an all-around great time. My greatest reward from Princeton nonetheless came several years after graduation, when I met Clara (née Severiens). Although we had spent three years on campus together at Princeton, shared several friends and played the same sport, we only got to know each other volunteering at a soup kitchen for the homeless in Washington, DC. Clara is also an easterner, born near Washington and raised up the Hudson River from New York City. She is the middle of three girls. She worked for several different non-profits during her years in Washington, including the Overseas Development Council and the Council on Foundations. Relocating closer to our families on the east coast was a major factor in our choice to leave Logan for Ithaca.

After Princeton, I was fortunate to win a scholarship to study at Oxford. It was a wonderful time of discovery, not just because Oxford provided my first intense exposure to development economics, but also through opportunities to explore Europe and the enduring friendships made during that time. The Army soon called me to the active duty tour to which my ROTC scholarship obliged me. Thankfully, that active duty time was limited, and I was able to serve out most of my obligation (and several years beyond) in the Army National Guard in Maryland, Virginia and, finally, Wisconsin.

When my active duty stint with the Army finished, I moved back east, to Washington. There I worked for a management consultancy for a while before taking a position as an economist with the Institute for International Finance, a non-profit economic research body for commercial creditors involved in international lending. There I worked on Third World debt and the challenges of economic reform and adjustment in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa. It was fun and fascinating being involved in high-level policy analysis, but once Clara and I married and, especially when (just 9 months later!) we had Brendan, the crazy pace and constant travel ceased being exciting and instead became a burden. Newfound familial responsibilities and an intellectual hunger I couldn't satisfy fully in Washington prompted us to head for Madison, Wisconsin, where I did my Ph.D, 1990-94, and where we were blessed with the arrivals of Mary Catherine and Joanna. From Madison, we headed to beautiful Cache Valley, Utah, where we greatly enjoyed our almost-four years and where our twins, Julia and Elizabeth, were born.

There isn't much free time for faculty with five young children. But I spend what little time I have reading (I especially enjoy history, sports, and theology), exercising (I play a bit of everything, but mainly basketball, skiing, soccer, and squash these days), helping coach kids' basketball, soccer and softball, playing with our dog, Nala, and just relaxing with Clara and our children. We enjoy outdoors activities. We are blessed with a wonderful faith community here in All Saints Catholic Church, where we are all actively involved in Sunday school, prayer groups, etc.

Thank you for visiting. Email me with any comments or suggestions you might have.