I am a graduate of the City University of New York, as I hope that many of you will be. I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from Brooklyn College and then continued my education at the University of Michigan where I received a Masters Degree in Biology.  Upon completing my Masters, I then embarked on a series of provisional careers before finally settling down and deciding that the teaching of biology on a college level would be my career of choice. 

     At one point I worked summers in the Catskill Mountains as a dance instructor. For a while I also drove a 18, 000 LB truck for a laundry firm, delivering towels, tablecloths and napkins to country clubs on the eastern end of Long Island. For a one year period, I worked at Kings County Hospital as a licensed hematologist. My primary responsibility was to prepare blood transfusions and to ensure that the transfusions would be compatible with the recipient’s own blood.  After having worked a year at Kings County Hospital, I accepted a position in a major drug firm and specialized in developing and producing reagents that were used in blood typing and the identification of proteins that are found on the cell membranes of red blood cells. During this period of employment at the drug manufacturing company, I was also hired by Brooklyn College as a laboratory instructor in General Biology.  This latter experience provided me with my first “hands-on” experience and exposure to college teaching. I soon realized that college teaching was the career that I desired to follow. 

     Kingsborough Community College had just recently opened its doors when I applied for and was accepted as a full-time instructor in biology.  I have had the opportunity to personally witness the remarkable transformation of KCC from a small college housed in what had once been military barracks to the magnificent college that now occupies that same location at Manhattan Beach. Not only has KCC grown in size, it has continued to grow in stature attaining recognition as one of the finest community colleges in the United States.

     Midpoint in my career at KCC, I made the decision to continue my education and applied to and was accepted at Teachers College, at Columbia University. It was at Teachers College that I earned my second Masters Degree and a Doctorate in Education. The primary emphasis of my studies at Teachers College involved honing, developing and improving traditional methods used in the teaching of undergraduate biology courses.  I earned my Ed.D. in 1988 and I continue pursuing and investigating methods which can improve my skills as an instructor. I do my utmost to create a classroom and laboratory atmosphere that is conducive to providing a stimulating and effective environment for learning. I sincerely believe that learning is best accomplished in a relaxed atmosphere and that humor is an important component that can help accomplish this goal. 

     I have and continue to teach courses in General Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology and Human Genetics.  I especially enjoy one-on-one office hour sessions, with my students during which we can have informal discussions on any topic that they, or I deem worthy of discourse. I am also an ardent believer in the emphasis that KCC, as well as the rest of the City University of New York, is placing upon improving the writing skills of its students. I am a proponent and contributing member to the WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) initiative, believing writing skills can significantly improve when students have the opportunity to practice their writing in courses other than just English courses.

     Aside from my academic interests and pursuits I and my family are ardent devotees of traveling, often traveling to remote and unusual destinations. Hiking and boating are also favorite pastimes. Together and separately we have visited and explored sites far from the usual tourist attractions. Whenever possible, I enjoy visiting and comparing zoos in the areas that we visit. I also have a weakness for electronic gadgets, and often purchase items that I seldom use but just had to have.