He received his Ph.D. in physics from UNH in 1969. His thesis work involved the design, fabrication, and flight of three different balloon experiments. Since then he has been involved in at least six balloon experiments, some as the project scientist and some as a senior mentor for young scientists. In 1971 he became the instrument scientist for the Gamma Ray Experiment on NASA's OSO-7 mission. In mid-1970 he designed, and was the experiment scientist and the UNH technical manager for, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) for NASA's Solar Maximum Mission. The GRS experiment was delivered on time and within budget, and was the first of six instruments delivered and integrated onto the SMM spacecraft. The GRS operated without a single failure for nearly 10 years, from launch in 1980 until the SMM reentry in late 1989.