He holds a Ph.D. from Penn State in Educational Leadership. Prior to earning his Ph.D., he was a New York State Senate Fellow, serving on the Senate Education Committee, a Fulbright exchange teacher in Pecs, Hungary, and he was a high school English teacher for 8 years in the New York City School system, where he was a United Federations of Teachers Chapter Leader. His areas of research include: authentic leadership, ethics in education leadership, understanding suffering in schools, transformative learning, and using films as a medium of instruction.