My family, friends and varied life experiences have all shaped who I am.

family life and community

I met my wife, Anne Marie, when we were both Freshman at Cornell University.  We have been together ever since and will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary this October.  Our life is blessed with beautiful identical twin girls that are 15 and entering their sophomore year at Choate, and a son who is 5, just starting kindergarten at Cook Hill.  They make us proud every day.  I enjoy volunteering and work hard to help move our town forward through active leadership in the Planning and Zoning Committee, the United Way and Scouts.  Our family is also active in supporting our local YMCA and church, Saint Benedict of Nursia.  We love traveling as a family and are always up for new adventures.  We love building sand castles, carving intricate jack-o-lanterns, going to the Yale Planetarium and hiking up Sleeping Giant.

career and Education

I was fortunate to receive a strong public school education.  My passion for all things space and aeronautical led me to Cornell University.  With hard work and the help of student loans, work-study, and scholarships, I graduated in 2003 with a B.S. in Engineering.  A co-op opportunity at Pratt and Whitney during college brought me back to Connecticut after graduation with a full time job offer.  I am currently in my 21st year at Pratt and work there as a jet engine Program Director.  Key qualities that I have taken away from these experiences include leadership, data-based decision making, innovation, consensus building, hiring, mentoring and financial management.  My various positions at Pratt have afforded me the opportunity to work with many international customers and to continue my education.  While working full-time since college, I have completed a M.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer and an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon and a Project Management Professional certification. 

Upbringing

I was born and raised in a small town, where I learned that involvement, collaboration and hard work are the essential elements keeping communities strong and moving forward.  My older sister and I were lucky to have been raised by a woman that was not only an excellent mother, but also a preschool teacher who instilled in us a love of learning. This carried me through my public school education.  She modeled strength and courage through her hardest days battling ovarian cancer, prior to passing in 2015.   Our father was a jack of all trades and helped to mold my strong work ethic.  Some of my best memories center around the time I spent with him re-building a '69 Chevelle in our garage.  These memories are all the more special since we lost him when I was 13, when he passed away due to heart disease far too young.  I was fortunate to also have a supportive stepfather in my life who showed me how family means so much more than those in your blood line.

I held various jobs throughout high school and though they seemed small at the time, I now see how the values I learned from each still apply to my daily life today.  As a hot dog cart vendor, I grew to understand the importance of a kind word in someone's day.  As a wild blueberry picker, I learned patience and attention to detail.  Yet some of the greatest lessons I learned came from my experiences with the Boy Scouts, which culminated during my Junior year of high school when I achieved Eagle Scout.  I felt such a sense of pride in making this rank, yet understood that it was made possible not only through my own actions, but with the support of my friends, family and community.  When not in school or working, most of my time was spent on the field, devoted to my love of soccer.