User:Dfrench

French was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma and grew up in Piedmont, Oklahoma, a small farming community in central Oklahoma. His family was middle class; his father was an insurance salesman and home builder, his mother was a bookkeeper with several businesses in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. He has one younger brother.

As a boy growing up in a rural area, French spent much of his time engaged in outdoor activities, one of which included hang-gliding. He began hang-gliding at the age of 16 and was one of the first participants of this sport in the state of Oklahoma. As a boy scout, he attained the rank of Eagle Scout.

French states that he has worked from the time he was 6 years old, beginning by mowing lawns with a reel-type push lawn mower. He has worked in a wide variety of industries including farming, aviation, petro-chemical, communications, health care, engineering, and several others.

While attending the University of Oklahoma as a full time student, French also worked five jobs simultaneously for a period of a year. His schedule during this time began at 4:00 am to deliver newspapers for the Daily Oklahoman. He then attended classes at the University of Oklahoma from 7:00 am until noon studying Zoology and Chemical Engineering. From 1:00 PM in the afternoon until 5:00 PM, French worked for a chemical engineering company as a computer programmer. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, from 7:00 PM until 10:00 PM, French worked for the Zoology department in their media and study room as a tutor and attendant. On Friday and Saturday evenings he worked for a company called "Party Pics" as a photographer and would go to various events around the campus taking pictures. On Sundays and Wednesdays (skipping classes on Wednesdays) French worked for the "Wonder Bread" company as a "pull-up" route driver on the regular drivers day off.

French Graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1983 with a B.S. Degree in Zoology.