Meet David Koren

David Koren was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a lower middle class working family. His father, Leo Koren, had grown up during the Great Depression on a farm with no central heating or electricity. His mother, Marion Koren, learned to read by the light of a kerosene lantern. His parents, therefore, were strongly motivated to provide David and his brother, Jim, with a good education toward a better life. They succeeded.   David Koren earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Cornell University in 1963 and went on to become a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eastern Nigeria. He served as a teacher at Ohuhu Community Grammar School at Amaogwugwu from January 1964 to December 1966. During the Biafra War he served as a UNICEF Volunteer with Joint Church Aid as a cargo master and mechanic on the Biafran Airlift. He told his story of these years in his memoir, Far Away in the Sky.   Following the war, he earned advanced degrees in Rehabilitation Counseling, Physics and Astronomy. He applied this education to two subsequent careers: first as a counselor in a mental hospital and later as anengineer for an industrial laser company.   Currently, he lives on a mini farm in rural Pennsylvania with his wife, Kay, and two tractors. Using his education, he built an observatory for his large telescope, and he installed solar panels to power his home and his electric car.