Matt Morain

•  Apr 2008 
  Aubrey E. Galyon Award for Academic Excellence View website
•  Apr 2008 
  Richard R. Wright Award for Expository Writing View website

Until only very recently, I spent all of my life in central Iowa. I grew up and attended K-12 in Jefferson, IA before going on to my undergrad in Indianola at Simpson College, where I met and wooed my future wife, Tracy. After a brief return home to work for my father at the Bee and Herald Publishing Company, I moved to West Des Moines and joined the dynamic staff at the Office of Governor Thomas J. Vilsack, who now serves the Obama administration as Secretary of Agriculture. I was fortunate enough to split my time in a hybrid position as half-Outreach Coordinator and half-Volunteer Liaison for the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. I am confident that if I didn't have such a compelling interest in higher education, I would still be working for the State of Iowa in some regard and loving every minute of it.

Curiosity led me to Iowa State University in Ames, where I completed a master's in Rhetoric, Composition and Professional Communication. From there, I had to make a choice: take a job as a technical writer and stay in Iowa, or conitnue on to a PhD program and take my show on the road to explore a different part of the country and engage a different set of personal goals. My searches led me to the CRDM program at NC State University in Raleigh, where my wife and I currently reside with our Cairn Terrier puppy, Kairos. I'm presently finishing up the last of my coursework and am preparing to transition into the exam stage--yikes.

Digital stalker? Check out my Twitter feed (@morainium), my Academia profile (http://ncsu.academia.edu/MattMorain), or my infrequently updated blog (http://mattmorain.tumblr.com).