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Personal Background Dr. Belcher was born on May 22, 1951, in Tallahassee, Florida. After residing for several years thereafter in Stillwater, Oklahoma, home of what was then called Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University), Dr. Belcher moved with his family to Athens, Georgia, home of the University of Georgia, where his father was a Professor of Sociology who published widely in the areas of rural sociology, sociology of the family, and demography. Dr. Belcher graduated from Athens High School in 1968 and then attended the University of the South (Sewanee) for five semesters before transferring to the University of Georgia, where he obtained his baccalaureate degree, summa cum laude, in 1973. For the next seven years, through 1980, Dr. Belcher studied and taught philosophy, completing his course work and comprehensive examinations for a doctoral program at the University of New Mexico in 1977, while also taking graduate courses in sociology, anthropology, psychology, political science, and history.
In 1980, Dr. Belcher left academia to attend Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Dr. Belcher received his J.D. degree, cum laude, in 1984. During his senior year in law school, Dr. Belcher accepted an offer from the United States Department of Justice, through its honors program. In 1985, while working as a Trial Attorney for the Department of Justice, Dr. Belcher completed the requirements for his Ph.D., after defending an interdisciplinary dissertation involving the disciplines of philosophy, sociology, psychology, and economics and titled “Reflexive Predictions and Uniform Laws of Human Social Behavior.” During his extended undergraduate and graduate education, Dr. Belcher wrote film and drama criticism for several newspapers, acted in student and Town and Gown theatre productions, and was active in student politics. He also ran competitively for 25 years and coached other distance runners before retiring due to chronic knee problems. Dr. Belcher now attempts to stay physically fit and relieve the stress from litigation through weight training, cycling, swimming, and outdoors activities. He also enjoys playing NTN trivia games. Dr. Belcher speaks conversational Spanish and currently represents a number of Spanish clients. In the past, Dr. Belcher has also spoken conversational French, although he has not practiced that language for several years. In order to satisfy the requirements for a Ph.D., Dr. Belcher passed reading proficiency examinations in German and French.
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