He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the faculty at Mississippi State University he was a National Institutes of Aging Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Population Studies Center. He is a social demographer with research interests in population health, aging and the life course, family demography, and social stratification. His research broadly examines the effects of social inequality and social relationships on adult health outcomes. His recent research primarily focuses on educational and marital status differences in morbidity, disability, and mortality risk among older adults.