Professional Blurb
I have been an assistant professor of computer science at
Indiana State University since
the fall 2010 semester.
I received my Ph.D. in
Computer Science at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2010;
Dieter van Melkebeek
was my advisor.
I received bachelors degrees in computer science, mathematics, and
Spanish from Xavier University
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
My research is within algorithms and complexity theory. Much of my research has focused on the power of randomized algorithms and general-purpose methods to obtain efficient deterministic simulations of randomized algorithms. There has been interesting and beautiful work in this area since the late 1980's showing connections between derandomization, pseudorandom generators, circuit lower bounds, extractors, expander graphs, error-correcting codes, hardness amplification, etc.
I always find it surprising how many people obtain a Ph.D. and then leave academia for industry. I have always wanted to stay in academia for two main reasons: (i) to teach and assist people on their path to a career, and (ii) for the research freedom. For more of my thoughts on these, see my teaching page or my statement of teaching philosophy and my research publications.