About Me

I am currently an Associate Professor in the math department at Purdue University. Prior to coming to Purdue, I was an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin and then at Cornell University. I earned by Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota in the summer of 2008. My adviser was Ofer Zeitouni (here is my thesis if you wish to read it).

I've been happily married to my wife Jana since May 29, 2004. We met on the track team at Northwestern College (which has changed its name to the University of Northwestern, St. Paul), where Jana was a pole vaulter and I was usually injured. We have three children. Our daughter Anja was born in 2006, we adopted our son Gunnar in 2012, and then our daughter Elsa was born in 2020.

When I'm not doing math, I really enjoy playing sports. In high school I was in football, powerlifting, and track and field. In college I played football and ran track. Since I've run out of eligibility for sports I'm resigned to watching sports and talking with my friends about how good we used to be. I also really enjoy doing things outdoors, especially deer hunting (both archery and firearm). I also enjoy gardening, building things, and working on my cars.

The most important thing in my life is that I am a Christian. I grew up in a Christian family with great parents who taught me the Bible and told me about Jesus' love, but my parents aren't the reason I'm a Christian today. I knew the stories of the Bible well, but I don't think I really understood the personal implications for me until I was in Jr. High. It was then that I finally realized the incredible sacrifice Jesus made by choosing to die on the cross as a payment for my sins. My faith in Christ grew even more during my time at Northwestern College. It was there that I learned to study the Bible and discover answers to the tough questions of faith on my own. I attend First Baptist Church in Delphi where I serve as a Deacon and teach the Jr. High Sunday school class.