Gregory J. Stewart was born in 1957 in Fountain Inn, SC, a small town a few miles from Greenville, SC. At age four he moved with his family to Summerville, Georgia, where he grew up and went to school. After completion of high school Greg went on to complete undergraduate and masters degrees in Microbiology at the University of Georgia. He then completed his PhD in Microbiology at the University of California at Davis. After post-doctoral training in industry, Dr. Stewart began an academic career at the University of South Florida. After seven years he accepted a position as Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of West Georgia where he spent 10 years. After stepping down as chair he accepted a Foster Fellowship with the Department of State, where he remained for six years, specializing in issues related to the reduction and detection of biological weapons and the Biological Weapons Convention. He is currently a Principal Scientist and coordinator of Biosciences for Applied Systems Research, a consulting firm in Fairfax, VA. Dr. Stewart has been married for 20 years to the love of his life, Patricia Herrin Stewart. He is the father of three children, Adrian, Joshua, and Jessica, and the grandfather of four.