I was born and raised – well – everywhere! I can’t really say I have a hometown, or even a home state! My father was in the military, a fighter pilot in the Marines. Barely did I rest my hat in one locale, only to find myself transported to another part of the world – literally. My childhood was spent from Japan to Turkey, with a sprinkling of the United States thrown in for fun!
I completed High School in Germany, where I also worked for the Department of Defense for 3 years as a Department of the Army Civilian. During Desert Storm and Operation Provide Comfort, I was in charge of the Freedom of Information Act program for the Headquarters in Stuttgart. After returning to the States in 1992, I attended St. Francis College (now University) in Loretto, Pennsylvania.
St. Francis was a great experience, and not only did I learn a great deal about pine trees and mountains (a little remote, this college), but I also met my future wife. We had a great time together, culminating in our marriage in 1995, and my graduation in 1996 with a dual Master’s in Human Resources and in Industrial Relations (that translates to employment law and union work). During my time at St. Francis, I worked for AmeriCorps. That was President Clinton’s program – similar to the Peace Corps, but designed for the average American who wanted to help fellow Americans. In my case, I was the personnel and operations manager of the Dorothy Day Center, the largest volunteer coordination and operations center in Central PA. Those were the days (laughing)….
After ending college life, I moved to Washington, DC to take up arms in my new position as Manager of Human Resources at Southwest Distribution. This company, with branches throughout the East and West coast, was a great launching pad, and I eventually ended up as their Director of HR, Director of IT, and then Vice President of Operations. They were really desperate for people in upper management!
During this time, I began teaching night classes in Alexandria, VA. I am a visual basic programmer, and networking engineer. Intro to Computers, Computer Programming, and assorted other courses comprised a very rewarding basis on which to begin my teaching career.
A competing company, Current News Company, also based in Washington, DC, bought me out in 2000 to become their Vice President of Technology. This was an interesting task, as it presented me with several ethical issues that most people only discuss in the classroom. I had no signed agreement with Southwest about confidentiality, yet should I take the information I knew from my former employer and use it to aid my new company? I worked for Current News Company for one year, and then resigned. I solved my ethical dilemma the good old fashion way – with my feet! However, one never wants a burned bridge, so I left them on good terms.
After leaving Current News Company, I landed a position with Digex, in Beltsville, MD. An international web and application hosting company, Digex specialized in high dollar web hosting contracts. I was hired as a senior project manager primarily because of my fluency in German and French, and my ability to manage large scale project successfully. As a senior project manager, I designed web sites (hardware and networking) for such companies as Reader’s Digest, Alcatel, and the United States Postal Service. I was eventually tasked to lead the development of Digex data centers in Europe. I oversaw the construction of the Data Center in Germany (where I lived for six months), and was instrumental in coordinating overseas data center operations from the headquarters in Beltsville, MD.
I am a goldsmith, jeweler and appraiser. On side I own a photography/videography business, a bio-med research organization, and an IT consulting practice (see www.hhc-photography.com, www.hhc-designs.com, and www.cysteinesystems.com).
For fun I sell hubcaps and do Tarot Readings….(laughing). I live with my daughter, Margaret (11) in Fairfax, VA.
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