Dave is originally from Decatur, Illinois. After attending the University of Illinois, majoring in Physics, he worked six years as a production specialist at APL Engineered Materials. Dave began teaching public education classes for the 1985 appearance of Halley’s Comet and eventually founded the Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society a year later. He began performing live programs at the newly-opened William M. Staerkel Planetarium in 1989, earning a full-time appointment later that year as “planetarium specialist.” He was named director in 2000. In addition to running the planetarium, Dave taught two classes for Parkland College, usually one Astronomy and one Physics. More can be found on this resume. Dave retired in July, 2019 after 30 years of service to Parkland though he still continues to enjoy the sky!