I served honorably, but without any distinction to speak of. Although it was during the Vietnam conflict, I was never sent overseas, was never in combat. My longest assignment during my 5 years on active duty was as an Instructor in Mathematics at the Air Force Institute of Technology (Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio).

I graduated from UC Berkeley in 1964. After military service, I spent 30 years as a software engineer in Silicon Valley (1969-1999). My home is in Palo Alto, California. But, since retiring from writing packaged software for a living, I looked for a new challenge. As a result, I am now a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz, working on a Ph.D. in mathematics. That is why I spend 4-5 days a week “away from home” in Santa Cruz.