In 2012, Dr. Jeff Brierton retired after 37 years in public education as both a high school teacher and Principal of 2 high schools in the northern suburbs of Illinois. During those years, he earned a B.A. in Political Science, an M.S. in International Relations, an M.S.Ed. in Educational Administration, an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, and a Ph.D. in American History.

Jeff also served 19 years in the US Army Reserve, with most of those years as a Drill Sergeant. He is currently an undergraduate adjunct professor of Political Science and World History at National Louis University in Wheeling, Illinois.

To date, Jeff has co-authored 2 textbooks on school leadership after which he self-published 3 books on school leadership, a personal memoir, and 2 collections of poems. Several of his poems have been included in a national poetry magazine. He is currently working on a novel titled, The Key.

In his spare time, Jeff enjoys teaching, traveling, repairing bicycles in his garage, and baking bread. He has 3 sons and a daughter and lives in northern Illinois with his wife Mary Beth and their 3 rescue dogs.