BIOCHEMISTRY

• Please tell us a little about yourself. 
  Where did you grow up?  Where did you go to school?  

I was born in Denver, CO, 1956 and grew up in Boulder, CO. My entire educational track is as follows: Columbine Elementary School (1967); Centenial Junior High School (1971); Boulder High School (1974); University of Colorado (1 year); Carleton College (BA, Chemistry, 1981); University of Minnesota (PhD, Biochemistry, 1989); Carnegie Mellon University (postdoctoral fellow); University of Wisconsin (Assistant Professor, 1993).

• Where did you carry out your postdoctoral research?

Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.

• As a child, who was your biggest influence?

Mr. Geiger, high school geology teacher; Mr. Kildahl, high school algebra teacher; and Mr. Ogata, high school chemistry teacher.

• Why did you decide to study science?

Because I love the natural world.

• Why did you come to Madison?  When?

Greatest opportunity in the world. Summer, 1993.

• What do you like most about being a professor?

Following my interests and intuition while working with the very smartest students and colleagues around. There is something new and challenging every day.

• What is the focus of your research?

Understanding and increasing appreciation of the marvels in the natural world.

• What do you consider your major accomplishments?

Helping others achieve their goals and success.

• What advice would you provide to a new assistant professor who is just starting his/her career?

Follow your interests and intuition, and always remember you can’t do it alone.

• When you are not working, what do you like to do?

Tend my daffodils, cook something new, and play some music.

• What is your favorite place in Madison?

The secret beaches along the shoreline going north and west from Picnic Point.

• Favorite Quote

Build Back Better

• Friends Describe Me as

Ready to go

• Fantasy Dinner Guests

People who know what they are talking about but are still good listeners.

• Best Advice I Ever Received

“Don't promise what you can’t deliver…”

• My Undergrad Alma Mater

Carleton College, ‘81

• My Worst Subject In School

Analytical Chemistry

• If I Weren't A Professor, I Would

Work with my hands

• In College I Drove

A bicycle

• Favorite Books

“Ceol Rince na hEireann” (the red one)
“Popular Mechanics Home How-To”
“Salt: A World History”
“Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy.

• Favorite City

Sapporo, Japan or Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Favorite Movies

Recently: “Enola Holmes”
“Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker”
“Guardians of the Galaxy"
“Avatar”
Anything Marvel

• Favorite Coffee

Just Coffee’s “Wake the Dead”

• Current Research

Learning what we can do about lignin besides burn it or bury it.

• My Latest Accomplishment

Getting the Biotechnology Training Grant renewed for another 5-year period.

• Nobody Knows I…

Walked to the Chomolungma base camp and back