B.S., Biochemistry & Nutrition, 1991
M.Ed., Higher Education, 1996
Ed.D., Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, 2001

An M.S. in Education

I remember my first meeting with Robert Nash, director of the Interdisciplinary Studies Master's Degree Program in the College of Education. I was a South Burlington police officer and I'd completed my undergraduate degree just a few years earlier from the university. I was yearning to return to the classroom, but I needed to find the right program.

At the time, the Masters in Public Administration was brand new but it wasn't accredited. Someone, I can’t recall whom, suggested that I check with the College of Education and speak with Professor Nash about the interdisciplinary master's degree. The program would afford me the opportunity to tailor the coursework to my interests within human development and education.

As a police officer, I was fascinated by conflict resolution. I responded to so many disputes that were better resolved in the community than they were in the court house. Robert's father had been a police officer, and he grew up surrounded by cops in Boston. He told me that I would be the first police officer to go through this program, if I was accepted. The police department was extremely supportive and I was able to take class on duty when my schedule conflicted, and Robert had to contend with my being armed during class (and often in uniform). Not all my classmates were comfortable with this.

What I couldn’t appreciate at the time was how influential this graduate experience would be on who I was to become. Not long after I started the program, the Vermont Police Academy asked me to join their staff to coordinate statewide police training. How many police officers were completing graduate degrees in education? It turned out to be a perfect job in so many ways. I learned administration, leadership, and politics. The work became a passion and I completed my master's degree within my first year at the academy. My studies in human development, education, philosophy, and the process of learning strongly influenced my work educating and training Vermont’s police officers. Many of the programs I implemented more than 20 years ago have stood the test of time.

Wanting More – On to the Ed.D. and Chief of Police

Within a year I was antsy for more. I craved the safety of the classroom where ideas were often shared without judgment and discourse was encouraged. I became myself in those moments. So, I found myself back in Robert Nash's office to ask what he thought about my entering the doctoral program in educational leadership and policy studies. It was a bit of déjà vu when he said, "You'd be the first police officer to be in the program, if you're accepted." Not long after, I found myself sitting amongst superintendents, teachers, principals, social workers, university administrators and healthcare workers, beginning my doctoral journey. I read more and wrote more than I could ever have imagined, and I found another band of brothers and sisters outside of law enforcement, forged by a different kind of stress.

Well into the program, and during one of the marathon Monday classes, a member of our cohort who worked in UVM's Division of Student Affairs leaned over and said to me, "Ya know, we're hiring a new police chief. Are you interested?" They'd never hire me, is the first thought that went through my head. I'm too young. I've never been a police chief. Then… why not?

A year later I was being sworn in as the Chief of Police at the University of Vermont, and I enjoyed a 12-year tenure that met every expectation and more. During that time, I had the privilege to work with some of the brightest, most dedicated and caring police officers, dispatchers, service officers and administrative staff ever to serve. We implemented contemporary community policing practices; forged relationships across campus; made mistakes and recovered; stabilized the police officer ranks; and earned our status as an internationally accredited police agency through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). I was encouraged to seek leadership opportunities in my national associations and was ultimately appointed as the first CALEA commissioner with a university police background. I served CALEA for 9 years and helped shape the standards that govern law enforcement in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

I defended my dissertation the month before our first child was born and carried him across the stage with me when I was hooded by my wife, a professor. My doctoral studies expanded my understanding of organizations, and my tenure as the university's police chief allowed me to mature in ways I didn’t expect (my future wife, who knew me at the police academy, finally accepted a date after seeing me again six months into being a police chief. She told me that I’d matured. HA!).

Life after UVM

After twelve years, I retired as UVM's police chief and founded a consulting firm that is now the largest professional services firm for university, college and K12 safety and security in North America. In 2013, the Attorney General of the United States on behalf of the US Congress asked Margolis Healy & Associates, LLC to stand up the National Center for Campus Public Safety. The National Center is the federal resource serving every university and college in the United States, and we're proud to provide these services from Vermont.

During Margolis Healy's work with universities and colleges, we became aware of the impact social media was having on how students communicate and the impact it was having on school safety and security. In response to the need, we launched a second company, Social Sentinel. Social Sentinel is the pioneering industry leader in social media threat alerting, and has had numerous successes identifying indications of harm, self-harm, violence, and criminal activity shared publicly on social media. Our software is used by K-12 schools, universities, colleges, local cities and towns, and hospitals across the country,  with more industries coming into our family of customers regularly.

I'm on an incredible journey rooted in my UVM experience as an undergraduate student, graduate student and employee. I'm grateful for every moment.