I was born in New York City in 1945. My bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in philosophy from New York University. From 1972 to 1996, I lived mostly in Japan but I also spent five years in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. I received a Ph.D. in communication in 2000 at the University of New Mexico. I am most enthusiastic about teaching intercultural communication and keeping up with developments in the rest of the world. My wife is Japanese, and I have two children of college age.