I am honored to serve as the 12th president of Millsaps College. As a graduate of Carleton College, I have benefited from the lifelong impact of a strong liberal arts education, which prepared me for an exciting career journey of change, challenge and fulfillment.
I joined the U.S. Foreign Service as a career diplomat in 1989 and, over the next 15 years, proceeded to live in Taipei, Chengdu, Guatemala City and Beijing. I learned Spanish and Chinese while dealing with hostage crises, attempted coups, natural disasters and nuclear proliferation.
I left government service in 2004 and joined Thunderbird School of Management, where I served most of my 7+ years as Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs. I then spent 7 years at George Mason University as Chief of Staff and, for 2 years, concurrently as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. From 2019 until May 2024 I was Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff at Georgia Tech.
I have been fortunate to share my experience with business students at Thunderbird, George Mason and Georgia Tech through the many global business, cross-cultural management and study abroad courses I taught at those institutions.
I am married to fellow Carleton grad Kirsten McLagan and we have three adult children, Hannah, Maya and Nicholas.