Ray Collins grew up in the Midwest, attended Yale, and was drafted as an Army combat infantryman during his junior year. He married his wife, Betty Ann, when he was mustered out of the service and went on to earn an MPA at Princeton. He became a foreign service officer with the Department of State, then a Japanese language and East Asia specialist and interpreter for the White House before leaving State to focus on programs for vulnerable families.He was a resident Mid-Career Fellow and earned a PhD at Princeton and for five years was a nonresident Fellow at the Zigler Center for Child Development and Social Policy at Yale. When not writing thrillers (The General's Briefcase), Ray enjoys traveling and watching movies with Betty Ann, weight training, and spending time with his four children and extended family.