academic history:
     Intellectually, I've been productive because God made me intelligent (*) and I work hard.  But professionally, I've followed a "road less traveled" instead of the typical academic path.  What happened?  As a chemistry major, I enjoyed learning and did well (getting the American Chemical Society's "best student" award for all high schools of Orange County, CA, and then for undergrads at U.C. Irvine) and received a fellowship for graduate study from the National Science Foundation.  But for various reasons — mainly academic immaturity (playing too much and not studying enough) and an incomplete mental awakening (I had discovered creativity but not discipline and commitment) and an intellectual preference for generalization (instead of the specialization expected in grad school and in science) — I decided not to pursue a career in research chemistry.   {* this has allowed academic awards and fellowships, 800s in GRE for Math & Verbal,...}
     After leaving school, I traveled and worked and played, along with lots of reading and thinking, and developed a passion for expressing ideas through writing.  I enrolled in the History of Science program at the University of Wisconsin, but never felt like a historian;  during our first semester a fellow grad student began a sentence, "We historians think that...", and my internal response was "what an interesting concept, WE historians."  But since high school I had been teaching, and thinking about the process of thinking, so when I entered the Science Education program at UW the concept of "we educators" struck a resonant chord — it felt natural and intellectually stimulating, and has provided the freedom and flexibility to pursue my continuing generalist interests.

     teaching experience:  in classes (mostly chemistry and physics, plus learning skills, tennis, juggling, music improvising & theory, ballroom dancing) and summer "chemistry camps" and by tutoring (in physics, chemistry, and calculus);
     special interests in education:  scientific concepts, strategies for science and design, problem solving, thinking skills (generating and evaluating ideas,...), visual representation of ideas;  relationships between science and religion;
     favorite movie:  It's A Wonderful Life, partly for its artistic value (plot, dialogue, acting,...) but mainly for the message:  Each of us affects other people, and life is better if we affect others in a way that is beneficial for them.
     spiritual foundation:  I'm a Christian, and my overall goal is to love and trust God more fully so I can "live by faith" in a way that is beneficial for myself and others.

     Regarding the results of my "road less traveled" I have mixed feelings.
     Intellectually, I've been highly productive.  Professionally, I haven't followed the standard path.  The result of this combination is that, despite developing lots of great ideas in a wide range of areas, so far these ideas aren't widely known or used, and my life doesn't summarize well on a curriculum vitae.  This is partly because during the last decade I've focused on writing for the web — which I think can be (when all things are considered) a superior way to communicate ideas, but unfortunately it doesn't get much "credit" among scholars — instead of writing for scholarly journals or in books.  But a more general explanation is that, basically, I haven't been a skilled "salesman" for my ideas.  Although the product is strong, the marketing has been weak.  My actual intellectual productivity has been high, but the perception of productivity (by others) has been low.  This contrast between reality and perception is frustrating, but I think it's temporary, and I have faith that God wants my work to be more widely used (and more useful for achieving His purposes) and that this will happen, in His timing.
     On most days, when I wake in the morning I'm free to think about ideas that are wonderfully exciting.  I'm thankful that God is using me to do volunteer work on a productive ministry project (a website for Whole-Person Education) that is very satisfying.  To make money, my current "tentmaking" job — which I also enjoy, except when I think about the valuable time it subtracts from working on my main vocation — is teaching part-time in the Chemistry Dept of UW.
 

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