I was born and grew up in Zhitomir, former USSR, now Ukraine. I was growing up in a militarized and antisemitic atmosphere of the country which Ronald Reagan so correctly called the Evil Empire. My  disrespect for authority and desire to question conventional ways of doing things irritated most teachers of the Soviet educational establishment which I had to attend. Needless to say that my dream was to get out of the USSR to a free country like the USA. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was 24 for my dream to come true.

After I finished the eighth grade at the age 14, my mother and my maternal grandmother decided that I should obtain a sound qualification that would enable me to support myself. Thus I was enrolled in Zhitomir Vocational Wood-Processing School where I obtained my qualification of the technician-electrician. Many courses were taught by retired (and retarded, if you saw Borat) military officers who saw us as future soldiers giving our lives for socialist motherland when fighting imperialist aggressors. Needless to say that I did not fit well into that environment, and the proof of it is the reference letter (characteristics) that was written by one of these “commanders.” This characteristics says that I did not show any enthusiasm when I, among other students were forced to participate in such extracurricular activities as cleaning territories on Saturdays and trips to collective farms to gather harvest every year. Those who are interested to know more about what kind of lives people lived in the USSR, please read Monumental Propaganda by Vladimir Voinovich.

After graduating from this vocational school and passing entrance exams, I was admitted to Kiev Polytechnic Institute in 1985 to study at the department of automatic control systems. Many courses that I had to take were not related to the qualification of Electrical Engineer for which I studied. These courses included the history (fake and void of content) of the communist party of the USSR, scientific communism, soviet judicial system, political economy, and other time-wasters designed by the Soviet system to keep students extra-busy. Despite this fact I met a wonderful professor of mathematics, Dr.Andrey Gromovoy who was my first advisor. He recommended me to Dr.Manoylov who led a laboratory that performed various research activities to create waveguide systems for the Space Research Institute in Moscow.

Interestingly, I could not join the lab for some time because of two reasons. The KGB made sure that the percentage of Jews should not have exceeded around 2% of all employees for organizations. In addition, working for this lab required a security clearance, and Jews were considered potential traitors who wait for their moment to leave the USSR. It took some maneuvering before I was hired to this lab, and I was given a level two security clearance. This move was dangerous for me since by taking security clearance I acknowledged that the KGB would never allow me to leave the USSR. In retrospect, it was a right decision since I was able to do research and write papers without having to participate in any political activities.

And the perestroika came just in time. An ancient Chinese proverb and curse says in English translation: may you live in interesting times. What an interesting time this perestroika was! Goods quickly disappeared from stores, people cursed the communist party without any fear, Armenians and Azerbaijanians killed one another with easiness like they did it all their lives in Nagorno-Karabakh region of the USSR, different quacks flooded TV programs and opened offices promising people to treat their illnesses by removing negative energies from their bodies. In this craziness I graduated with the diploma of Electrical Engineer in 1991 and shortly after that I emigrated to the USA.

Facts and Trivia About Me

• I am a citizen of the USA .
• I am married to Tina Grechanik since 1991.
• We live in Chicago, IL.
• Before we moved to Chicago, Tina and I lived in Texas for fifteen years. I like TexMex, Riverwalk in San Antonio, and North Star Mall.
• I subscribe to Chicago Tribune, Times, Newsweek, Chronicles of Higher Education, The Economist, Technology Review, and the Mental Floss journal.
• Our close friends are Dmitry Gokhman and Richard Mankowski.
• I collect leather-bound books.
• I lost 45 pounds when I was on Atkins in 2004.
• I wrote approximately 250,000 lines of code over 20 years working for more than 20 companies as a consultant and full-time employee.
• I use Splenda instead of sugar.
• I make my own espresso and cappuccino using an Espressione machine. For an excellent guide on coffee, go to prof.Tavernini’s espresso files.
• I love Woody Allen’s movies.
• I emigrated as a citizen of the USSR. I still have my soviet passport. I hope to sell it on ebay one day.
• Tina and I like to cook. We subscribe to Bon Appetite, the Gourmet magazine, Food and Wine magazine, and Fine Cooking magazine.
• All languages that I speak, I speak with accent.

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