Here is my short biography.

I was born in the Ural Mountains of Russia. A family legend says that my father bought a pair of skiis as a present for my first birthday. I started skiing when I was 4 and grew up in a forest, lake and mountain country not unlike Rocky Mountain foothills, which may explain why I ended up in Utah.

I obtained my B.Sc. (Honors) in 1990 from Chelyabinsk State University, where I worked on substituent effects in tetrahydroquinolines. In 1990 my family moved to Israel, where starting in 1991 I attended Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. In 1994 I obtained there my M.Sc. degree. My research under the supervision of Professor Yitzhak Apeloig focused on Si=C and Ge=C double bond formation and on other aspects of organosilicon chemistry. I have strong ties to Israel where I served in the IDF and where a large part of my family and many friends live.

In 1995 I joined the group of Professor Josef Michl at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where I worked on preparation and properties of Group 14 cations in non-polar solvents, on weakly nucleophilic carboranyl anions, on neutral carboranes, on lithium conducting polymers and on photoresist materials. I obtained my Ph.D. in June 2000 and was a recipient of several graduate fellowships including the national Link Foundation Fellowship. In August 2000 I joined the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as a Beckman Fellow. I worked with Professor Steven C. Zimmerman at the Chemistry Department of UIUC on preparation of dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers for molecular recognition, and also on computer modeling of dendrimers and carbon nanotubes. I came to Utah in 2003 to start my independent research career.

My professional career was greatly influenced by a number of outstanding individuals. Click here to read about my mentors.

I enjoy a variety of activities outside the lab. Some (like playing the guitar and singing) I don't do much any more, other (like classical, jazz and rock music, cinema, poetry, and Eastern phylosophies) continue, and I acquire new ones. My most recent hobbies are tennis, computer graphics, web design, 3D animation and digital photography (see the Gallery for select images). I lift weights and play tennis several times a week. I try to spend as much time as I can with my wife and son, and that is the most enjoyable time for me outside work. We play, travel and hike together.

I teach two courses, Physical Organic Chemistry I (CHEM 7240) and undergradure Organic Chemistry. Please, click the course number to go to its page.