He holds a PhD in higher education from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a faculty member in the Higher Education Program at the University of Maryland since 1980 and also served as assistant to the chancellor from 1980 to 1984. Prior to coming the university, he served for four years as the director of academic and financial planning for the Maryland State Board for higher education where he directed development of a state master plan for higher education. He also worked for 14 years with the federal government in a variety of administrative positions in the Public Health Service, U.S. Office of Education, Bureau of the Budget, and National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.