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D.B. Rubin 61150.6 Interim time in DC at EPA, at the University ofWisconsin, and the University of ChicagoSometime around 1978 I was asked to be the Coordinating and ApplicationsEditor of JASA. Stephen Stigler was then Theory and Methods Editor. I hadpreviously served as an Associate Editor for Morrie DeGroot, and was becomingrelatively more well known, for things like the EM algorithm and differentcontributions that appeared in various statistical and social science journals,so more options were arising. I spent two weeks in December 1978 at theEnvironmental Protection Agency in the Senior Executive Service (very longstory), but like most things that happened to me, it was very fortunate. I wasin charge of a couple of statistical projects with connections to future mentors,one with a connection to Herman Chernoff (then at MIT), and one witha connection to George Box; George and I really hit it off, primarily becauseof his insistence on statistics having connections to real problems, but alsobecause of his wonderful sense of humor, which was witty and ribald, and hislove of good spirits.Previously I had met David Cox, via my 1976 Biometrika paper “Inferenceand missing data” discussed by Cox’s then PhD student and subsequently mygreat coauthor, Rod Little. I found that the British style of statistics fit fabulouslywith my own interests, and the senior British trio, Box, Cochran andCox, were models for the kind of statistician I wanted to be. I also participatedwith Box in several Gordon Conferences on Statistics and Chemistry in thelate 1970s and early 1980s, where George could unleash his “casual” side. Ofsome importance to my applied side, at one of these I met, and became goodfriends with, Lewis Sheiner, UCSF Pharmacology Professor. Lewis was a verywise doctor with remarkably good statistical understanding, who did a lotof consulting for FDA and for pharmaceutical companies, which opened upanother connection to an applied discipline for me, in which I am still active,with folks at FDA and individuals in the pharmaceutical world.In any case, the EPA position led to an invitation to visit Box at the MathResearch Center at the University of Wisconsin, which I gladly accepted.Another great year with long-term friends and good memories. But via SteveStigler and other University of Chicago connections, a full professor positionwas offered, jointly in Statistics and in the Department of Education. I wasthere for only two years, but another wonderful place to be with more superbmentors; David Wallace and Paul Meier, in particular, were especially helpfulto me in my first full-time full professor position. I also had a connection tothe National Opinion Research Corporation, which was important. It not onlywas the home of the first grant to support multiple imputation, but becausethey did real survey work, they were actually interested in my weird ideasabout surveys! And because they also did work in economics, this initiated abridge to that wonderful field that is still growing for me. Great times.