A native Pennsylvanian, Dave traveled north to the Southern Tier of New York for higher education at 
Houghton University. After graduating from Houghton, he traveled halfway across the country to Northwest Arkansas where he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in cognitive/social psychology from the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville.
Dave spent the next 37 years teaching in higher education until retirement in 2017. Here is a copy of his vita and a link to his ResearchGate page.
His interest in Naval History began when he and his wife Simone researched a napkin ring that his father in law used every day after WWII. The ring came from his ship, USS Patterson (DD 392). As the ship’s final First Lieutenant he was one of the last officers off of the ship and he took his wardroom napkin ring with him. A series of posts about the ring begin with this link. It was during his time researching Patterson‘s history that he happened on to the tradition of Officers of the Deck (OOD) on US Navy ships having the leeway to write the first watch of the New Year (midwatch – 0000 to 0400) in verse.
Dave is an avid reader and an award-winning home brewer. He also engages in Medieval re-creation and research with specialties in brewing and missile weapons (see his blog Casks and Quivers). He lives in Siloam Springs, AR with his wife Simone.