I attended my first CMF event about 40 years ago when I was a college student at NC State. Over the years since then, I have been involved in CMF in a variety of ways:  Donor, Title Sponsor for the past 3 years, Court Member,  two-time Co-Chair, Board Member and two terms as Board President. CMF is near and dear to my heart for many reasons.  The lessons I learned as a member of the organization have help me immensely along life's journey.  There are so many people in my life today that I meet through my association with CMF.  Being able to dedicate my time at CMF to the friends I lost as I watched them succumb to AIDS.   And the pride of being part of the nation's oldest all volunteer organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS and knowing that we took care of us when no one else cared is as strong in me today as it was 40 years ago.   

Here’s a little about me…. As I mentioned I attended NC State University where I received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in synthetic organic chemistry.   I was an avid basketball fan and my freshman year I celebrated with the cardiac pack as they won the 1983 nation championship.  To this day I attend pack football and basketball games as often as possible.   My first “real” job was as a chemist for Becton Dickinson in RTP.  I did research there for 8 years and was granted 33 US patents  for new compounds I made, the procedure used to make them, and their use in diagnostic tests for infectious diseases.  It was work I loved doing but not the work I was meant to do.  In 1998 I switched careers and became a mortgage loan officer.  My time at NC State and Becton Dickinson solving equations in calculus, chemistry and physics laid a solid foundation for solving financial equations and getting people in home of their dreams.