Hello there! I teach at UCLA Law, serve as an officer in the Air Force, and previously, prosecuted federal crimes for the Justice Department. I am a product of the Glendale public schools and love pizza.
I am a first-generation immigrant—my family and I came to America when I was very young—and my connection to this area is simple: I grew up here. It’s home. I attended Monte Vista Elementary, Rosemont Middle, and Crescenta Valley High School. I played baseball on the fields of Montrose, rode my bike up and down the streets of La Crescenta, and watched countless movies in Burbank.
After earning my undergraduate degree from Penn, I taught third grade in inner-city Philadelphia as a fellow with the New Teacher Project. Anyone who believes that issues of inequity and opportunity gaps are just buzzwords has not spent any time in classrooms in marginalized communities.
I was able to raise my students’ achievement levels by approximately 30 percent, but wanted to effect change on a larger scale. So I studied law at NYU, and after graduating, came back home to LA to begin my career as an attorney. I joined the Justice Department in 2015 to prosecute crimes that I felt attacked and compromised the society we live in.
A few years later, I joined the Air Force Reserve. I wanted to push myself to further serve the country that welcomed my family and me and allowed me to do what I was passionate about. Being alongside like-minded men and women has been an honor and privilege, and I continue to serve as an officer today.
After nearly seven years as a federal prosecutor, I took on a new endeavor in 2022, when I began teaching at UCLA School of Law. Today, I am able to work with some of the country’s brightest students, who will one day uphold the very rule of law that hold our society together and make America what it is.
I’m married to a wonderful wife, Ellen, who herself is an educator, serving as an assistant principal at a K-12 school. We also both serve at Tapestry Church in Los Angeles. We are excited to meet you!