Biographical Sketch

    I grew up in Richmond, Indiana, the youngest of four children.  My father was a college professor and my mother an M.D.  For high school I travelled east to Westtown School, near Philadelphia, where I enjoyed soccer, wrestling, choir, and orchestra as much as my science courses. For college I stayed nearby at Haverford College. I intended to major in biology, but soon grew more interested in chemistry. During graduate school at Yale University, I still focused on biomolecules (My research was on the motions of lipid molecules in model biomembranes using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy), but ended up more of a spectroscopist than a biochemist.

    After graduate school I spent two and a half years pursuing post-doctoral studies at the University of Utah. There I moved away from studying biomolecules almost entirely. A description of my current research interests is given elsewhere.  Utah is a wonderful place to live if you enjoy the outdoors...wide open country and beautiful landscapes ranging from mountains to red rock canyons.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    I spent five years teaching at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana before coming to Denison in 1989. Since then I have been in Granville except for the 1995-1996 academic year which I spent in Madison, Wisconsin doing research at the Unversity of Wisconsin with Professor Mark Ediger.

    I have been married to Vanessa Taphouse Fuson since 1982.  We have two daughters, Laurel and Hannah.  We live in one of Granville's distinctive older homes, which gives us plenty to do keeping it up.  We enjoy travelling and find great delight in the outdoors, particularly the Rockies, but also in the less dramatic beauties of Ohio's natural areas.  For more solitary relaxation, I enjoy reading and walking our dog, Sam.