In high school algebra class I got in trouble for talking with the guy next to me. Both of us were bored silly. I still laugh at the teacher's statement that it would be good for my social development to pay attention with most of the rest of the class, rather than have an actual conversation with someone! Next semester, the trig teacher said I wouldn't have to pay attention (provided my grades were good), and let me sit there reading a little number theory book he provided. This is how I got into math: reading books, for intrinsic interest as it turned out, and as a way to get out of paying attention in class.

I had been interested in science since early in life, but chose to concentrate in math in college, finishing most of the requirements in the first two years. But I was lonely, and blamed that partly on math. So off to med school and other things.

Graduated in May from Notre Dame with a PhD in math, thesis a construction of spinors on the loop space of a manifold, starting with a vector bundle over the manifold, constructing a bundle gerbe from the vector bundle, and given a trivialization of the bundle gerbe, constructed a spinor bundle from it.

General mathematical interests at the moment (not necessarily actively pursued) include algebraic geometry, applications of algebraic topology, catastrophe theory, probability and statistics.