Brett's chemistry career began at Hinchingbrooke School in England (hence the funny accent), doing O levels and A levels, and continued at Rhodes College, Memphis, where he became the first person (ever) to make the molecule bis-1,1-dimethylsulfone-2,2-dimethylsulfidethylene. Having done all he could with that molecule, he moved on to UW and attacked DNA, twisting it and bending it and forcing it to bond with whatever he could find, particularly cis-platin. But eventually this too became blase, so he moved on to teaching, where the challenges are always present and always real.
Brett's main mission in life is to get from here to there in any way he can -- by plane or car but more often on his bike or his own two feet. He's climbed to the top of castles in Wales, the 14,000ft. Pikes Peak, and a avlocano, but also to the bottom of Scottish dungeons and the Grand Canyon. Usually he walks more or less horizontally, all over the British Isles earning the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award, and more recently, 250 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail through the Washington Cascade mountains with only insects and bears for companions. He's been to all 50 states and 24 foreign countries, which leaves only about 150 countries to go, but new countries seem to crop up every year, so he's not likely to run out.
When he's not teaching or traveling, he might be found volunteering, with meals on wheels, or in an adult illiteracy program he ran solo for four years at Rhodes. He has tutored countless students to help them pass countless courses, and also helped countless friends to pass through countless crises of a personal nature by helping them though rough spots of their own. In Seattle, he works at a soup kitchen and at a homeless shelter, and as a fully trained and certified EMT, he is well prepared to help whenever needed.
Brett likes writing, cooking (vegetarian, please), geography, tennis, reading, Winnie-the-Pooh, castles, microbreweries, and travelling. He collects monopoly sets and Smarties tubes from other countries; CDs, though he's pretty particular about these; books, about which he is hardly particualr at all; Star Wars action figures when he was younger; and now that he is older, beer boxes to cover the walls of his room (he had 970 different beer boxes in November of 2000) but no more wall space; must be time to move to a bigger place!. He does not like TV or violence or driving or getting pulled into other people's arguments or trivia questions about boxing or people who are rude and inconsiderate to others.
Brett has a wonderful, almost perfect mother, two sisters who also border on perfection, and one dog who borders on worthlessness. His friends are loyal and his students--though they are often older than he is--rate him as one of the best. You don't want to miss the experience of being in his class. you may think this web page sounds like it was written by a mother but I challenge you to find a single word that isn't true! Brett really is as fabulous, magnificent, stupendous, and brilliant as you've heard. Seek him out for yourself.