About Me

I grew up in a small town in the great state of New Jersey, where I ate a lot of pork roll (and no Taylor ham). I then went to the University of Michigan for my BS in Honors Mathematics, and stuck around for my MS too. While there, I took the honors math sequence (class number 41), where I made some of my best friends at the expense of most of my sleep and some of my sanity. At the expense of more of those two things, I spent two years with the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, and was Operations Director for a little more than half that time. As a part of the team, I raced 1800 miles across America in a really big truck.

After my time at Michigan I spent a year in Arlington, Virginia as a Quantitative Trader in the energy markets. I then hitched a ride back to the Midwest to start my PhD at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where I am now. 

Academic Interests

I love to study algebraic problems with geometric flair. If you're working on a geometry problem where you notice a lot of symmetries and relations that can be described algebraically, I probably want to hear about it. 

I am broadly interested in studying singularities in mixed and positive characteristic from a commutative algebra perspective. Currently, I spend a lot of time thinking about Quasi-F-splittings and regularity over non-F-finite fields. 

I've been programming for the better part of a decade (C++, Python, R, MySQL, PHP, Java, etc.) and have a dozen pet projects that I've never quite finished. If you know of a more interesting project let me know.

Other Interests

I love playing board games and am always looking for a group. The list of games I play regularly is ever growing, but includes Terra Mystica, Terraforming Mars, 7 Wonders, Twilight Imperium, Eastern Empires, Wingspan, and Chess. It is worth noting that I'm not particularly good at any of these.

I love the city of Chicago, and have relished every day since I got here for my PhD. I enjoy biking around the city and trying all the best restaurants that I can find.

I'm a big fan of having a scheduled capsule wardrobe. If I only see you 1 day of the week and it looks like I always wear the same outfit, it's because I am.