  During the period 1962--1964, I had a tenure track Assistant Professorship in
Mathematics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where I did research in
probability theory, especially on linear diffusion processes. Being somewhat
lonely there and not liking the cold winter weather, I decided around the
beginning of 1964 to try to get a job in the Mathematics Department at UCLA, in
the city in which I was born and raised. At that time, Leo Breiman was an
Associate Professor in that department. Presumably, he liked my research on
linear diffusion processes and other research as well, since the department
offered me a tenure track Assistant Professorship, which I happily accepted.
During the Summer of 1965, I worked on various projects with Sidney Port, then
at RAND Corporation, especially on random walks and related material. I was
promoted to Associate Professor, effective in Fall, 1966, presumably thanks in
part to Leo. Early in 1966, I~was surprised to be asked by Leo to participate
in a department meeting called to discuss the possible hiring of Sidney. The
conclusion was that Sidney was hired as Associate Professor in the department,
as of Fall, 1966. Leo communicated to me his view that he thought that Sidney
and I worked well together, which is why he had urged the department to hire
Sidney. Anyhow, Sidney and I had a very fruitful and enjoyable collaboration in
probability and, to a much lesser extent, in theoretical statistics, for a
number of years thereafter.
