Place of birth: Moscow, Russia.

Undergrad education: Connecticut College, New London, CT. Majors: Economics and Mathematics. Minor: German Studies.

Places I have lived: Moscow, Russia (until age 15); Newton, MA; New London, CT; Frankfurt am Main, Germany; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; San Diego, CA.

Languages I speak: Russian, English, German, a bit of Italian.

Hobbies: I have played piano all my life, with an active performance career until grad school. I've recently restarted some activity on that front, playing in a wonderful piano-violin-clarinet trio of assistant profs at UCSD (an interdisciplinary effort involving an economist, a linguist, and a cognitive scientist). I have quite a bit of formal education and training in all things music, including, besides piano, voice and competitive ballroom dancing. More recently, I discovered Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga, have become a devoted practitioner and got certified as a yoga instructor. I have been teaching yoga actively for over three years now. I also love: travel, modern art, movies, reading, and my digital camera.

Moving to San Diego: No, I don't surf. :-)

Words I try to live by : "You are either now here, or nowhere". (Baron Baptiste)