My Background
I was born a Hoosier in Marion, Indiana. Tragically, my five-year-old brother died of Leukemia when I was just a year old. It tore my family apart and my parents divorced. My mother moved my sister and me to live with our grandparents in Rockford, Ill, which is where I spent a wonderful childhood, balancing the fine art of playing football while not breaking any fingers, with being classically trained on the piano. I had loving grandparents, a sister who protected me and a Mother who went back to college, earned her degree and provided for me very well thank you.
After graduating from high school I attended Hanover College and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. I then came to Arizona for the first time in 1982 to attend the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
One day in French immersion class, a tardy student entered the room and it was love at first sight. Her name was Dawne Cotton and eventually we were married in the backyard of her parents’ home in Paradise Valley by Bishop Harte of the Arizona Episcopal Diocese. We both graduated from Thunderbird with Masters in International Management degrees and I began my career in New York. Read more about My Career.