I grew uand went to school in Moscow, Russia. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics MIEM) in 1976 with the diploma in Applied Mathematics a rough equivalent of the MS degree. I started my research with Mikhail Agranovich who was and still is) a professor in MIEM. After couple of years, I decided that I would like to move to the US. That move took time, but, finally, in 1987 I found myself in Boston, MA. I went to Graduate School, and in 1989 I got my PhD in Mathematics from MIT. Victor Guillemin was my dissertation advisor. For two years, I was an Adjunct Assistant Professor in UCLA, and, from 1991, I am on the faculty in the University of Arizona.