Ph.D. 1995Career: Cowan, Liebowitz, & Latman P.C.; Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius LLP; Pennie & Edmonds LLP

Advisor: Roger Lewis

Other education: Law School, 1998, University of Pennsylvania

I very much enjoyed my time at UAB. The ability to take graduate courses as an undergraduate and to really get a feel for the challenges and excitement of graduate work in mathematics was probably the determining factor in my decision to pursue graduate studies in math. The friendliness and enthusiasm of the faculty — especially Professors Lewis, Kauffman, and Knowles — were the primary factors in my decision to pursue those studies at UAB. Although I didn't enter academia after getting the Ph.D., the degree has been extremely useful nevertheless: it probably helped gain my admission to law school; it definitely helped me to get hired by a good patent law firm; and over the years it's helped me convince inventors (who often also have advanced degrees), as well as their employers, that I'm the patent attorney they should be using to seek patent protection for their inventions. Whenever I present my business card, I always get a positive response when the "Ph.D." after my name is noticed, and a second positive response when I say that the degree is in applied mathematics.