Rick is from Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's and master's degree in Aerospace Engineering.  He moved to Texas in 2001 when he got a job as a flight controller for both the space shuttle and the International Space Station. He met and married his wife Katie in 2003 and came to Trinity in 2005.  Rick and Katie adopted two children, Kenneth and Elizabeth in 2015. He enjoys reading classical literature, biographies of leaders, and science fiction.  He also enjoys hiking in beautiful places like the Grand Canyon and the Sierra Nevadas.  He listens to classical music and enjoys the hymns of Isaac Watts and Fanny Crosby.