I was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. My father was a physicist at "the plant," and my mother was a teacher. 

Growing up in Oak Ridge was idyllic, and I received a great education in the Oak Ridge Public School System. I went to Harvard College, where I studied history, and I returned home for law school at UT.   After law school, I worked for Hon. Boyce F. Martin, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals, and then moved to Nashville to practice law.

In Nashville, I met and married my wife of 25 years, MaryEllen Sullivan, who was originally from New York. We have three daughters, Kathryn, Shannon, and Sara.  

I have had a wonderful, 30-year career as an attorney, mainly as an appellate attorney in federal court.  

In 2016, I co-founded a medical-device startup, Virtuoso Surgical, Inc. The Company is developing a patented surgical tool that will revolutionize endoscopic surgery. You can find out more about the company at www.virtuososurgical.net.  I left the Company completely, except as a shareholder, in March 2026.

In the last few years, I have written a number of scientific articles about antimatter, and about matter/antimatter space propulsion.