He received a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management at North Dakota State University (NDSU). He has conducted substantial research on resilience (broadly defined) with external funding. He also has experience teaching at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. He was the graduate coordinator of the emergency management program at a prior institution. He will build an interdisciplinary graduate urban resilience class to benefit resilience initiatives at UCF and UCF Downtown.