 He completed his B.Sc.with major in Plant Breeding and minor in Horticulture in 1978 from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; an M.Sc.in Systematic Botany in 1980 from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; and a Ph.D. in Systematic Botany in 1984 from the Ohio State University with a dissertation on "Evolutionary Investigations in Antennaria".