Technology taught me to think in systems
I spent approximately 30 years at Trinity College, beginning as a technical lead and ultimately serving as Director of Systems and Networking. Alongside that work, I advised outside organizations on networking infrastructure, security, video surveillance, and access control.
For one organization without a large maintenance staff, I designed a purpose-built redundant DC power-distribution system. The design had to account for reliability, battery replacement, maintenance capacity, long-term cost, and the system the organization could actually sustain.
In security work, the same perspective meant beginning with the real objective—a safer environment for employees—rather than assuming more cameras were automatically the answer. Infrastructure choices can affect risk, fear, trust, and culture.
Governance taught me to keep asking why
I have served for approximately 25 years as a trustee of the Bugher Foundation, a private foundation supporting cardiovascular research.
I am not a cardiovascular researcher. My contribution has been to respect the expertise in the room while keeping larger questions visible: what are we trying to accomplish, where can our resources make a distinctive difference, and what will continue after our funding ends?
That included helping shape research funding to support early-career researchers—extending its potential value well beyond an individual funding window.
The path not taken
I tend to look sideways at a problem—not because the conventional answer is necessarily wrong, but because I want to understand why it is right and what becomes visible from another angle.
The useful work often happens where technical depth, institutional knowledge, different perspectives, and an honest question meet.
What I bring
- Technical depth without assuming every problem is technical
- Leadership experience without assuming hierarchy produces the best ideas
- An outsider’s curiosity that respects knowledge inside the organization
- A systems perspective that connects decisions
- A willingness to challenge assumptions, including my own