I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was a secondary school student at El Dorado High School and an undergraduate at Rice University, earning a B.A. in mathematics back in 2004. After finishing up at Rice, I pursued a graduate sudies in mathematics the University of Pennsylvania. I received my Ph.D. in mathematics in 2009 and began work as an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia Univer
sity that same year. In 2012 I moved to Louisiana State University, where I am currently  a Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics.

My wife, Monica and I met at Rice and were married in 2007 after she graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. She is now an attorney specializing in class action and anti-trust litigation at the Dugan Law Firm.