I grew up in Cooperstown (home to the Baseball Hall of Fame) and Orchard Park, New York. My father, Chris, is a retired professor of art conservation. My mother, Tay, teaches middle school science. My younger sister, Kate, is currently a graduate student in Chicago.
I received my undergraduate degrees in mathematics and political science from MIT. I received a Master's degree in statistics from Stanford in 2006. I completed my Ph.D. in political science at Stanford in 2010. I am now an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Among other interests, I am a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and baseball in general. I have visited 25 of the 30 current major league baseball stadiums and four of the former stadiums, as shown on this map.
