Since childhood I have been interested in how things work. When I was about 8 years old I received a Tyco electric car racing set. The next day my father came home to discover that I had taken my cars apart to try to figure out how they worked. He knew then that I was destined to be a scientist! For myself, I noticed that the cars had these magnets in them and figured that was just extra weight and I could make the cars go faster if I removed the magnets. Well that didn't work! So I put them back in and discovered that if I put them in wrong, the cars ran backward.

Since then I have continued to be very interested in how nature works. I completed my college education with a BS in physics and completed all but the student teaching portion of the high school teachers curriculum. I then went on to graduate school where I completed my PhD in physics from Washington State University (go Cougs!).

Immediately after receiving my PhD I started a career as a college physics professor. I taught college physics, astronomy, and math courses for 25 years.

I really love seeing understanding dawn on a student--that's what kept me motivated and what motivates me to now seek work as a tutor. I hope to see a lot more students gain understanding about how nature works here.