For fourteen years he worked at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where in addition to providing a wide range of English courses, he taught in the Honors and Catholic Studies Programs. He hold degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Gonzaga University, and Weston Jesuit School of Theology. His doctoral dissertation at University College Dublin (2005) traced the influence of Cardinal Newman on James Joyce; since then he has researched, presented, and published on Newman’s influence on other notable 19th and 20th century Irish, British, and American writers. He has taught in Dublin, Seattle, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He also assists in parishes and campus ministries.