He received his Ph.D from Cornell University in 2009 after receiving a B.A. in mathematics from Oberlin College. Originally he was interested in the representation theory and geometry of p-adic Lie groups. However, in the past two years he has become increasingly interested in the mathematics of puzzles and games. He has studied mathematics of the word game Boggle, but in general is interested in maximal and minimal solutions to puzzles. He is also interested in cultivating the next generation of math lovers and has used puzzles and games in numerous outreach activities.