Brian was born in Michigan, where he lived until the age of ten when his family moved to San Diego, California to exchange the long cold winters for sunny days on the beach. He graduated from Los Gatos High School, in the heart of Silicon Valley, but he steadfastly refused to become a computer programmer/dot com billionaire.
Brian went to San Diego State University where he obtained a bachelor’s in political science. Bored with the year-round beautiful weather, he moved to Iowa City, Iowa, where he taught Spanish while earning his master’s in social studies education, and learned to enjoy Big 10 college football. He then obtained his doctorate in history from the University of Iowa, with a focus on disability rights movements, as well as Latin American history.
While still working on his doctoral dissertation, Brian was hired by the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. He first worked in the San Francisco regional office, and then later moved to Washington D.C. where he works today.
Brian currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia, or what he calls the “fun side of the Potomac,” where he is actively involved in his community. He sings tenor with the Alexandria Harmonizers, a gold-medal a cappella men’s chorus, with whom he has performed all over the world, including China in 2012, and Normandy, France in 2014. Brian represents Alexandria on the Access Advisory Committee for the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, and is very active in the blind community, serving as an advocate for educational and employment rights for blind adults and youth. Brian enjoys movies, music, travel, good food, home-roasted coffee, and micro-brewed beer, and is plugged into a book, magazine, or newspaper just about every waking moment of his life.