Rod was born and raised in Walton, NY, a small community in the western Catskill Mountains. His love of biology developed as it does for many biologists with lazy summer afternoons spent around a pond behind his parents' home watching tadpoles develop into frogs, dragonflies patrol their routes and swallows skim the water surface.  He graduated from Cornell University with a major in Genetics but where during his senior year, he took several courses in Microbiology which helped set his specific career direction.  His Genetics advisor, Adrian Srb and microbial genetics Professor Stanley Zoller provided the encouragment to consider graduate school.  After graduation he worked for two years as a bench bacteriologist at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center where the career direction was further honed by his interest in medical microbiology.  He earned his doctorate at the Medical College of Virgina as the  first Ph.D. student of Frank Macrina, who Rod maintains is the most organized person he has ever met.  His postdoctoral training with the venerable Stanley Falkow began at the University of Washington and ended at Stanford University.  He began as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in 1982 and he has been the Chair of the Department since 2000. Since January 1983 he has maintained a tenuous and often acrimonious relationship with his lab manager, Shai Pellett.  Although he often denies it, she runs the show.

Rod has a daughter, Zoe who attends The College of William and Mary. He has a Labrador Retriever, named Evelyn (Evie).  Rod believes he is qualified to provide fishing, golfing and trap-shooting lessons to his colleagues.