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7The accidental biostatistics professorDonna J. BroganDepartment of Biostatistics and BioinformaticsEmory University, Atlanta, GASeveral chapters in this book summarize the authors’ career paths after completionof graduate school. My chapter includes significant childhood and earlyadult experiences that coalesced into eventually completing a PhD degree instatistics. I also summarize some highlights of my biostatistics academic careerpost PhD at two universities over 37 years. My educational and careerpaths had twists and turns and were not planned in advance, but an underlyingtheme throughout was my strong interest and ability in mathematics andstatistics.7.1 Public school and passion for mathematicsI grew up in a working class neighborhood in Baltimore and loved schoolfrom the moment I entered. I was a dedicated and conscientious student andreceived encouragement from many teachers. My lifelong interest in math andmy perseverance trait developed at an early age, as the following vignettesillustrate.As a nine year old in 1948 I rode the public bus each month to a local bank,clutching tightly in my fist $50 in cash and a passbook, in order to make themortgage payment for a row house in which I lived. I asked the tellers questionsover time about the passbook entries. Once I grasped some basic ideas, I didsome calculations and then asked why the mortgage balance was not reducedeach month by the amount of the mortgage payment. A teller explained tome about interest on loans of money; it sounded quite unfair to me.Two years later my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Loughran, noted my mathematicalability and, after school hours, taught me junior high and high schoolmathematics, which I loved. He recommended me for admission to the onlyaccelerated junior high school in Baltimore where I completed in two yearsthe work for 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.73