Stephen has launched degree and continuing education programs in design communications, visual storytelling, and filmmaking. Stephen has served in academic and administrative leadership positions at the School of Visual Arts, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, the Kansas City Art Institute, the Art Institute of New York City, Concordia University, Vermont College of Fine Arts, and the Community College of Vermont. He has served as Program Director, Program Chair, and Dean and as faculty in design and filmmaking, in the classroom, and online for 25 years. He runs a dairy goat farm along a wild trout stream in Vermont and has academic and non-profit clients throughout Vermont.

He earned his PhD in Philosophy of Education with minors in Visual Anthropology and Evolutionary Ecology from the University of Kansas; an MA in in Aesthetics from Teachers College, Columbia University; and a BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts. Stephen also serves as the Vermont Governor’s Appointee to the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Arts Council supporting the Creative Economy initiative and serves on the Governor’s Art Award Committee.