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226 “The whole women thing”Ifinditdifficulttodiscussalltheseissueswithoutseemingplaintive.Iwritefrom a privileged position, and I can say without hesitation that I personallydo not feel disadvantaged; my career has coincided with a concerted effort tohire and promote women in academia. And yet I’ve felt the energy drain fromtrying to tackle some of the issues described here. I’ve experienced the welldocumentedattrition through the ranks: although my undergraduate statisticsclass had nine women in a class of 23, and my graduating PhD class hadfour women and three men, I continue to be the only female research streamfaculty member in my department. While I enjoy my colleagues and I love myjob, I believe this stark imbalance means our department is missing out onsomething intangible and important.So while I don’t stress about gender issues all the time, I do find that afterall these years there still are many things to discuss, to ponder, to wonderover, and with luck and determination, to solve.AcknowledgementsI was fortunate to meet as an undergraduate three (then future) leaders ofour discipline: Lynne Billard, Jane Gentleman, and Mary Thompson; this ismy personal proof that role models are essential. I would like to thank themfor their contributions to, and achievements for, our profession.ReferencesBBC News (2013). Powerful women are less liked, April. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22189754. Accessed on February 11, 2014.Bernoulli Society (2012). Wolfgang Doeblin Prize, 2012. http://www.bernoulli-society.org/index.php/prizes/158. Accessed on February11, 2014.Billard, L. (1991). The past, present, and future of academic womenin the mathematical sciences. Notices of the American MathematicalSociety, 38:714–717. http://www.awm-math.org/articles/notices/199107/billard/index.html. Accessed on February 11, 2014.Billard, L. (1994). Twenty years later: Is there parity for women inacademia? Thought and Action, 10:114–144. http://www.stat.uga.edu/stat_files/billard/20yearslater.pdf. Accessed on February11, 2014.