BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Chicago while my father was in an oral maxillofacial surgery residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.  My family moved to San Diego when my dad was assigned to the U.S. naval hospital there.  My mom and I returned to Chicago while my dad spent a year in Vietnam.  Upon my dad’s return, we moved back to San Diego.  In 1972, we moved to Provo.  I was seven at the time.  I attended Edgemont Elementary, Farrer Junior High and Timpview High School. Between my junior and senior year at Timpview, I was accepted to BYU and spent six months on BYU’s study abroad program in Vienna, Austria. This experience started my interest in international relations and reinforced my love for our country.

I received a Presidential Scholarship to BYU where I graduated in 1990 with a double major in International Relations and Family Living.  Two year later, I received a Masters in Organizational Behavior from the Marriot School of Management.  While at BYU I served as a student body officer and was a member of the BYU Ballroom Dance Tour Team where I was fortunate to represent BYU in Europe and the South Pacific. 

Not wanting to work for “Corporate America” right after graduation, I took a teaching position at Kharkov State University in Ukraine.  I had always had a fascination with U.S./Soviet relations and thought this would be a great opportunity to see and work in the former Soviet Union and witness the collapse of communism.

When I stepped off the plane in Kharkov, a beautiful student assigned by the university was holding up a sign with my name on it.   I married her five months later.  Managing to go seven years at BYU without getting married, I needed a little extra help and there was a beautiful girl holding up a sign with my name on it - what more can I say.  Alia is the love of my life and is the greatest thing that ever happened to me. She is the mother of our four wonderful children.

Our most recent child was born February 5, 2008 - the day before Ronald Reagan’s birthday.  It was my wife’s turn to choose a name and she chose the name Reagan.  Had it not been for Ronald Reagan, we would not have had the opportunity to meet and marry.   I am happy to be part of the “Fathers of Reagans Caucus” in the Utah House of Representatives.  There are now four of us.      

Over the past 15 years, I have had various teaching position overseas.  I taught in Kiev, Ukraine for Utah Valley State College (soon to be Utah Valley University).  UVSC had a joint program with a college in Kiev.  I worked in the private sector in Moscow for a year and had a stint with Merck Pharmaceutical as well as started a PhD in International Business (yes, I am a Ph.D. flunky – I had too much difficulty with the esoteric world rather than the practical world – my ADHD finally caught up with me).  For the past eight years, I have worked primarily in real estate development and the mortgage industry.  I still teach occasionally at UVU as adjunct faculty in International Business. 

It is an honor to serve in the Utah House of Representatives.  I have the best and brightest constituents in the state.