Speaker: Bill Meeker, Distinguished Professor, Iowa State University

Title: My Academic Journey and Some Reflections

Abstract: In this talk, I will describe the path that I took, over fifty-five years, going from an undergraduate business major to a professor of statistics. While doing this, I will recount 

• The sequence of opportunities that came to me and provided access to interesting applications, especially in the area of reliability, driving my research and the research of my students throughout my career. 
• The evolution of my thinking about and use of Bayesian methods in reliability applications, 
• The most frequent conversation I have had with my students and collaborators, 
• A few things I wish my professors had taught me, and 
• Research process strategies that I have found to be useful.