I attended Catholic schools in Appleton, Wisconsin, from 1958-1970. After earning a BA in English (1973) from St. Norbert College (DePere, Wisconsin), I taught at Mansfield (Ohio) Business College for 6 months, before returning to teach English at Xavier High School from 1974-1977.
I earned a Master of Science in Educational Administration from UW-Madison (1979), serving as a Columbus (Wisconsin) High School intern assistant principal for one year. I then served as the Development Director for Edgewood High School (Madison, Wisconsin) from 1979-1982.
I returned to graduate school in 1982 when my wife and I were house parents at the University of Wisconsin Alpha Chi Omega sorority on Langdon Street. During those three years she completed coursework for a masters in healthcare administration, and I completed coursework for a PhD in educational administration.
From 1983-85 I was assistant principal at Stoughton (Wisconsin) High School, leaving to become principal of Lodi (Wisconsin) High School from 1985-1988.
I returned to UW-Madison to write my dissertation during the 1988-89 academic year. Since then I have been a professor of educational administration at Western Carolina University, one of 16 campuses of the University of North Carolina system.
At WCU I have been involved with several international projects. I traveled to Japan with a K-12 teacher exchange, and I have taught graduate classes in Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. My Jamaica work — more than 50 courses taught since 1990 — has been particularly influential in my life. Friendships developed over those years give me an inside look at a different society, which helps me see my own society from a broader perspective.
The Six Virtues of the Educated Person emerged from all these experiences, especially my Catholic education, my UW-Madison graduate school experience, and my work with North Carolina and Jamaican teachers.
