A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Alabama with Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Electrical Engineering, and of Purdue University with a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, he also possesses an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate with Instrument and Multiengine ratings, an FAA Flight Instructor Certificate with Airplane Single-and Multiengine and Instrument ratings, and an FAA Ground Instructor Certificate with Advanced and Instrument ratings. He holds type ratings in the Hawker Beech King Air 300, Hawker HS-125, and Canadair Challenger 600. He has worked as a flight instructor, a charter pilot, chief pilot, and director of training for a FAR 135 operator, an airline pilot flying the SA-226TC Metroliner, and a corporate pilot in many different models of aircraft.