Greg was born in Morehead City, NC and graduated from West Carteret High School.  He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BS in Pharmacy (1974) and PhD in Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products (1984).  Greg’s graduate research involved extraction, isolation and identification of anti-tumor compounds from dried plants. This also included synthesis of purine lactones with anti-tumor activity. Greg’s pharmacist career spanned more than 30 years and included both hospital and retail pharmacy.  He also worked for 12 years in pharmaceutical product development with positions at contract laboratories.  These positions included chemist, scientist, project leader, chemical hygiene/safety officer and quality assurance officer.

In 2007 while working as a pharmacist manager in a small retail pharmacy, Greg suffered from plantar fasciitis & a bone spur in foot.  When he ran out of refills for Vicodin, he began to divert it for his personal use. These actions led to his opioid addiction. Greg spent 6 weeks in residential treatment at Pavillon, and his sobriety date is December 7, 2007.  He also attended Pavillon’s IOP in Columbus, NC for 12 weeks while residing in a halfway house.  Greg learned that he needed to be honest, open-minded and willing in order to build a good foundation for his recovery.  As a result of his actions, he pleaded to a felony and surrendered his pharmacist license.  Greg still went through the intensive Pharmacist Recovery Network program for 5 years which included counseling and random urine testing.

2017: Certified as CPSS and became a volunteer at Peer Recovery Center (PRC) in Morehead City NC.  Joined the Board of Directors in 2018.
2018: Volunteered with the Veterans Coalition of the Crystal Coast (veterans suicide prevention non-profit) and currently serves on the Board.
2019: Certified as a WRAP Facilitator.
2019: Appointed to the NC Certified Peer Support Specialist Work Group created by the NC Division of MH/DD/SUS and the Behavioral Health Springboard in the School of Social Work UNC-CH.
2020:  Began serving on the CPSS Expert Commission which led to a recommendation of NC HB732.