ABOUT ME

I started working with computers as a kid, whiling away the hours writing goofy programs on a TI 99/4A and saving them to a cassette tape. Then, in high school I learned touch typing on a Compaq Portable that weighed over 20 pounds. After graduation from college I worked as a preacher, teacher, technology coordinator, and IT manager before finally becoming a programmer. I thought that would be the pinnacle of my career, turning my hobby into a vocation, but apparently it's hard to leave leadership behind.

Now I'm Associate Director of IT in the Office of Research Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Here I oversee teams of software developers, data engineers, analysts, and platform administrators as we provide medical researchers with tools to discover new cures. We like to think that we save lives, but we really we just make it easier for other people to figure out how to save lives.

I present at a couple conferences each year because I love organizing and sharing talks. The conferences also allow me to visit places I've never been and learn from some smart, interesting people.

I live north of Nashville, TN with my wonderful wife, a yard full of interesting plants, an ever-inviting woodworking shop, a guitar that's too good for me and an untamed unicycle (which, I hate to admit, is likely destined to remain feral).