Born in Michigan, I was raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, back in the days when International Harvester was still in town. I am second oldest of nine children. I graduated 5th in my class of 585 students at R Nelson Snider High School. I never took any college classes before I went to college (except for some experimental language courses that my father tried when I was about 4 years old. He was a faculty member in the foreign languages department at Indiana University).

After my freshman year at MIT I served a two-year mission in California for the LDS church. I picked up the language pretty quickly, but I still don't understand the culture.

Before I left for California, I weighed less than 150 lbs, so I rowed for the MIT lightweight crew team. When I returned from California, I weighed in at 155 lbs, and after a year of losing 5 lbs of sweat before each race to make weight, I switched over to the heavyweight crew team. Rowing is much more enjoyable when you can eat.

My hobbies include sailing, playing pipe organs, ice dance, cycling, and calligraphy. This list is subject to change frequently, and depends a great deal upon the current weather conditions. I'm always ready to swing to some big band sound.

I tried hang gliding and really liked it, but I've not had time to make it a regular thing. Rock climbing happens more frequently, but usually just the Boston Rocks venues. I bought a 16' Hobie cat after sailing with a friend who had just bought one. I don't own a car.

Sports? Mostly endurance. I run marathons for the free food at the end. 40 miles is a short bike ride. If the sport requires a ball, I probably won't be very good at it.

I studied French and German in college, Spanish in high school (and in California). I can hold my own with 10-year-olds if they talk slowly and don't use any slang.

I took 2.70 (the mechanical engineering design course) my sophomore year because I knew I would neglect everything else. Somewhere along the line I received Admiral Luis DeFlorez award for "original thinking and ingenuity".