I have been a graduate student at Purdue University since the fall of 2016. I have liked math, and in particular probability, for as long as I can remember.

The most important thing about me is that I am a Christian; I believe a Jewish man named Jesus who lived and died 2000 years ago is alive today and is king of the universe. I worship him with Resurrection Presbyterian Church. I met my wonderful wife, Rebekah, on the first day of college in 2012. We got married in January 2016. We have a lively little boy named Ezra, and a baby girl, Rose.

When not doing math I enjoy spending time with my family, grilling and smoking, memorizing poetry, running, playing chess (unfortunately, I'm not very good, but I'm good enough to beat my brother at least half the time), writing silly songs about math to the tunes of familiar songs, reading C.S. Lewis, and cheering for the Colts. My advisor is also teaching me how to hunt. Ezra loves books, ice cream, playing "outdoorsy," Jeeps, Darius Leonard, Johnny Cash, and his baby sister. We don't know much about what Rose likes yet, but we think she's pretty adorable. Rebekah is a copyeditor; if you enjoy the intricacies of the English language, you should subscribe to her newsletter, Strike-Through. She's also a Steelers fan, but we root for each other's teams when they're not playing each other. If she knows of a book's existence, she's probably read it.

I am originally from Chesterfield, Indiana. My first job was stocking shelves and bagging groceries at a small grocery store in Chesterfield. I studied mathematics, and also philosophy, at Hillsdale College, where I completed a senior thesis on path sets in one-sided symbolic dynamics under the guidance of Will Abram. I came to Purdue in the fall of 2016.

As long as I'm mentioning my background and my education, I want to thank my parents, especially my mom, who homeschooled me and my three siblings from kindergarten through high school and did a fantastic job. I would like to thank Don Housholder, who taught me calculus in his home over coffee and chocolate and encouraged me in my pursuit of mathematics. I want to thank all the professors at Hillsdale, especially Will Abram, David Murphy, David Gaebler, Nathan Schlueter, Lee Cole, Matt Gaetano, and Richard Gamble.

I am a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences, and the Association for Mathematical Research.

Photos

Darius Leonard became Ezra's favorite football player by giving him a signed ball.


Rose seemed very happy to meet her namesake, my grandmother.


Sometimes I like to try my hand at making things. Here's a bookcase under construction.


And here it is in use.


With the help of the Internet and some family members, I made this cake for Ezra when he turned 2.


Here's my smoker in action. I usually use charcoal and hickory wood chunks, but I might use apple, pecan, or cherry depending on what I'm smoking.


Here's an inside view. This was a day when I hadn't smoked much all summer, so I smoked a little bit of everything all at once.