This is my eighth year as Head of Rockefeller College, and I am very much looking forward to meeting and working with all of you, new and returning students alike.

I first came to Princeton as an undergraduate in the class of 1995. After college, I headed West to get my Ph.D. from Caltech, but as much I loved California, I couldn't stay away from Princeton, and came back in 2001 as a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. I'm also an affiliated faculty member in the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics.

I live in Princeton with my wife Leslie and our two kids, Worth (age 16) and Cecilia (age 14), who are thrilled to be part of the Rocky community. Leslie also works at Princeton, in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, as the Associate Director for the Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science & Public Policy. I'm sure you will see all of us around the dining hall; feel free to say hello!

This Fall I'll be teaching a course called Automatic Control Systems.  It's all about how to design autopilots for aircraft, autonomous vehicles, and the like. It's one of my favorite courses to teach, because it brings together lots of fun mathematics, with some exciting applications to the real world.  I have an office in the D-wing of the Engineering Quad but also have a space in the Rocky office. If you are ever near either of those spaces, come introduce yourself.

Outside of the classroom, I'm a big music fan: I like nearly all forms and genres of music, I sing in a local choir, and I play the organ in the Chapel from time to time. I also love the outdoors, especially hiking, cycling, and rowing, and I'm a faculty fellow for the rowing teams.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Feel free to say hello in the common room, stop by my office, or join me and my family for a meal in the dining hall. I'm excited to meet you all!