Welcome and thank you for visiting. I am Distinguished Professor & Chair of Philosophy, at Utica University, a small, private university in Upstate New York.

I am a bioethicist as well as political philosopher focused not exclusively, but primarily, on the experience of disability. Much of my recent work focuses on medical aid in dying as well as the capabilities approach.

I am the author of two short books that focus on disability and justice: “Disability & Justice: The Capabilities Approach in Practice” (2014) and “Human Rights, Disability, & Capabilities” (2016), and am the editor of another book: “From Disability Theory to Practice: Essays in Honor of Jerome E. Bickenbach” (2018).  At the moment, and amongst other projects, I have a a few books under contract with Routledge. The first is a book titled "The Ethics of Assisted Dying" (2024), and the second is "The Ethics of Disability" (2025). The third is an edited collection with Jerome Bickenbach titled "Disability & Death" (2024). 

Prior to my current position, I was Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University in Montreal, and Teaching Fellow of Philosophy at Queen’s University at Kingston, where I received my PhD.

In 2016, I was a Visiting Researcher at the Fondation Brocher in Hermance, Switzerland, and in 2020, I was a Visiting Scholar at the Hastings Center in New York. 

In 2018, I was the recipient of the 44th Dr. Virgil Crisafulli Distinguished Teaching Award and in 2021, I was awarded the Harold T. Clark Jr. Award for Distinguished Faculty Scholarship and Professional Accomplishment, both at Utica University.

In 2018, I testified in front of the New York State Assembly Committee on Health concerning the Medical Aid in Dying Act, A2383a/S3151a. In 2022, I was an expert witness in the Delaware House Health & Human Development Committee concerning the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End of Life Options Act (HB 140). Also in 2022, I testified in the Connecticut General Assembly Public Health Committee on Senate Bill No. 88: An Act Concerning Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients. In 2023, I testified in Connecticut again, in the General Assembly Public Health Committee, but this time on Senate Bill No. 1076: An Act Concerning Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients. I testified in Delaware again in 2023 in support of the end of life options act (HB 140). Again in 2023, I testified in front of the New York State Bar Association's Task Force on Medical Aid in Dying. In 2024, I testified in the Delaware Senate Executive Committee pertaining to HB 140: An Act To Amend Title 16 Of The Delaware Code Relating To End Of Life Options.

I also do ethics consulting and more information can be found here.

Finally, while I have not yet conducted Nelson Riddle’s orchestra, been a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force, or bitten a police officer in Indiana, I am still young.