I was born in Stockholm, Sweden; lived several years in San Francisco, finished high school by the age of 16 with a 3.9 GPA. I was in Sweden at the time, in 1985, and tired of school I began working full time for $2.80/hour. This restaurant was then the world’s largest McDonald’s, with 250 employees and a $6million annual turnover. The first shifts entailed cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors, and for several years I worked 10-14 hour shifts, day, night and weekends. After several years I rose to assistant manger, and was sent on numerous courses in business management, marketing, budgeting, interpersonal communication and dispute resolution techniques. These courses proved invaluable, at McDonald’s and especially later in graduate school. By the age of 22 I had moved to a suburb where I managed a restaurant with 35 employees in one of the most ethnically and racially diverse neighborhoods in Europe; 52 different nationalities made up the community of Angered, Sweden. (Interesting fact: according the World Bank Sweden has the highest percentage of first and second generation immigrants in the world, now constituting 20.5% of the population).

I moved back to Los Angeles in 1993 to return to college and spend more time training (long distance running). I ran cross country and track for El Camino College and managed to receive the Student Athlete of the Year award in 1994/95 (I guess they must have had a really poor group of candidates for them to pick me). After turning down an offer from Texas (Lady of our Lake University) I transferred to Dominguez Hills, Carson, California (next to Inglewood and Gardena). The professors were good and the student body fun and interesting; I still have some dear friends from that time whom I visit regularly. I managed to squeeze out two marathon victories and some first-place finishes in smaller road races. For those inclined to think otherwise it should be noted that taking 5 classes and running 100-mile weeks requires a lot of energy….and I love food (particularly bbq chicken, roast beef subs, seafood marinara w. fettuccine, and penguin’s frozen yogurt.). Thus, I later had the world’s largest hamburger (7 lbs plus the bun; and yes, it comes with fries) at a party after I defended my dissertation at Syracuse University.

Living in LA also had the added advantage of being able to party in various costal and inlands cities from time to time (it is fascinating to have breakfast at a diner on Sunset Blvd at 5 am on a Saturday morning after an all-nighter on the town……). I also met and befriended one of the most interesting individuals I have ever encountered. Down on his luck and with more problems (legal and family) than can be summarized here, this individual, coming from a very meager background, worked harder and more diligently than I thought possible. Although he leaned on me for encouragement and support for several years, I consider myself very fortunate to have met this person, who remains a close friend. He has now turned his entire life around; receiving a Master’s degree and serving as an inspiration to hundreds of others.

My PhD took me to the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. This really surprised me, as I had no idea of what awaited me in terms of snow, and snow, and more snow….

My running went well, but not being a wiz-kid by any stretch of the imagination the course work was at times unbelievably tough. On a few occasions I questioned whether I would ever finish. Yet I was fortunate to have what everyone needs: great support from friends, professors and family. I even persuaded a couple of editors to accept some of my research for publication (guess they were desperate for papers….).

After my first year I was totally broke. After borrowing money to fly back home I worked scrubbing toilets and mopping floors to make it through the summer; come fall I received an assistantship which helped me through course work and the first year of writing my dissertation. I researched, taught American government, statistics, and European Politics, and helped establish the European Union Center at Syracuse.

After turning down a number of other offers I chose to come to East Stroudsburg University, and I am convinced that I made the correct choice. I enjoy teaching and try to support students as much as possible, but college should be a challenge. As I inform my students: if you take a course that fails to challenge you, that does not make you stop and ponder issues and arguments, demand your money back!

Over the past few years I have managed to publish a number of articles in American and European journals, and colleague and I published “A Handbook on Military Administration” (CRC Press, December 2007). Two projects will be the primary focus of my research over the next few years. The fist addresses American misperceptions of Europe, and the second the many fascinating contradictions in American social and political life that both sustain and challenge our society.

I have two brothers. One lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons, while my youngest brother returned to school after working full-time for several years and just received his BA in international relations the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (thus academically following in his older brother’s footsteps, much to the surprise of our parents). My parents are in Sweden but come to visit my brother and I, and now their two grandkids in LA, on a regular basis.