User:Professor JR

***** ONLY A DRAFT ---- ONLY A DRAFT ---- ONLY A DRAFT *****

User since 2006 --- known as "Professor JR" since July 2015.

Profile

Professor JR is a proud native son of the American West, who was born and grew up on the sagebrush prairies of the High Plains in southeastern Wyoming, north of Cheyenne.

He developed an interest in the art of magic and illusion at a young age, around age 10 or 12, after seeing several traveling magicians perform in venues in his hometown. The closest magic shop was 85 miles away, but he got there as often as he could. And, much later in life, had the good fortune to have an office just blocks away from Al's Magic Shop, so he could spend many a lunch hour and evening there.

He earned a B.A. in Literature and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, studying on a Ford Foundation Scholarship; spent two years abroad as a Fulbright Scholar & Professor; and later in his career, completed a course for government executives at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Over the course of his career, he has held positions as a University Professor of American History and American Studies; as a National Park Ranger; as a Legislative Aide in the U.S. Congress; and as a senior Federal Government official in Washington, DC, where he currently resides.

This user is an Amateur magician.

This user is a member of SAM.

This user is a former regular, until it closed, of Al's Magic Shop.

Career Highlights

Academic Positions

• University of Hawaii, Honolulu -- American Literature.

• University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho -- British & American Literature.

• Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay --
  -- American History; American Literature; American Political Thought.
  -- Chairman, Department of English Languages, Instituto de Lenguas.

Federal Government

• National Park Service --
  -- Park Ranger, Yellowstone NP;
  -- National Program Manager, Headquarters, Washington, DC.

• United States Congress -- Legislative Aide.

• U.S. Department of the Interior --
  -- SES Executive.
  -- Congressional Liaison.

Memberships

• Society of American Magicians.
• Ancient and Honorable Order of Turtles.
• Assoc. of National Park Rangers (ANPR) - Life Member.
• Employees & Alumni Association of the Nat'l. Park Service (E&AA) - Life Member.
• National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA).
• National Wildlife Federation (NWF).
• The Nature Conservancy.
• Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
• ΌΔΚ - Omicron Delta Kappa Nat'l. Honor Society.
• ΦΔΘ - Phi Delta Theta.
• Iron Skull Honorary.
• Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Personal Data

Professor JR resides with his wife --- a television & film producer, and a native of Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley --- and family, just outside Washington, DC.

He operates a small modern & contemporary art gallery, and an antiques & collectibles shop, in Northern Virginia; enjoys pursuing his avocational interest in the art of magic and illusion, and collecting antique magic apparatus and memorabilia; and shares with his family a love of the outdoors, and a long-standing participation in local animal welfare & rescue work, in addition to other hobbies & pursuits.

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