I received my Bachelor of Fine Art Degree with a Minor in Philosophy from California State University East Bay (Hayward). I was immediately accepted into the MFA program at San Francisco State University, but I found my true vocation in the philosophy department where I earned my Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy in 1989.

The direction of my formal education reflected my evolving interest in conceptual art and critical theory. My master's thesis is titled, The Postmodern Dilemma: Jameson and Lyotard. As the title suggests, I analyzed the central notions of postmodern theory as they emerged out of the philosophical trajectory that led from Immanuel Kant to the contemporary debate between two prominent philosophers of divergent views of postmodernism: J.F. Lyotard and Fredrick Jameson.

I am fortunate to have begun my career as a full-time philosophy professor at Merced College shortly after I graduated from college. On top of my career, I am also fortunate to have raised two wonderful children. I have traveled extensively throughout Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, and Asia on teaching and sabbatical research projects that included intensive research in philosophy, comparative religions, and humanities.

My teaching style stems from years "in the trenches."  All of the courses that I teach are transferable to accredited four year universities, and nearly all of the students who attend my courses desire to one day earn a bachelor of art degree or higher. However, most of the students who enroll at Merced College were not prepared by their primary and secondary education to succeed in the demanding academic world of a university; thus, I see my job primarily as making up for that lost opportunity. This is a round-about way of saying that I am all about the basics: read, analyze, and evaluate the ideas of the great thinkers of yesterday and today, and then express your own ideas in a well written paper. If you can do these things then the academic world is yours for the taking, so quit reading this and let's get to work!