I was born to Gary and Mary Jo Grau on July 24, 1978, in Pontiac, Illinois. I have three younger sisters. We all grew up on a farm in central Illinois. I always thought if physics didn't work out, I'd end up there and be just fine with it. I attended Flanagan High School and graduated 4th in a class of 50ish in 1996.
I attended Millikin University after that from August of 1996 - May 2000, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and received two minor degrees in Astronomy and Mathematics. While at Millikin I was an active member of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. I served as the Vice President for Membership for two semesters and was elected as the delegate to the 1998 National Convention in Minneapolis, MN. I also served as President of the local chapter of the Society of Physics students where our chapter routinely did physics demonstrations at schools in the Decatur community.
After Millikin I enrolled as a graduate student in the Physics Department at Iowa State University . There I started attending the First Baptist Church , joined the choir, taught Sunday School, served as a Deacon, etc. I also met my wife, Nikki. She was an undergraduate at the time. While at ISU, we married on May 17, 2003 (here's a picture). We welcomed our son, Brandon, into the world on February 23, 2005. I defended my thesis in November of 2005.
We moved to New York in January of 2006 when I took a job as a postdoctoral research associate at Columbia University. Since we have been in New York, we have produced another offspring. Our daughter Sadie was born on May 22, 2007.
Brandon Michael William Grau was born in Ames, IA on February 23, 2005 at 6:09 PM and weighed 7 lbs. and 7 oz. and was 21 in. long.
Here is a little site that we put up when we had the ultrasound photos.
You can download some videos from Brandon's first few months here.
Sadie Madison Elizabeth Grau was born in Mt. Kisco, NY on May 22, 2007 at 9:34 AM and weight 6 lbs and 12 oz. and was 20 in. long. Here are some pictures from her first couple of days.
If you've gotten this far and are looking for more, you must think I'm Superman.
