R. GNANADESIKAN, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Statistics at Rutgers University. He received his doctorate from the University of North Carolina. A former chairperson of Section U of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and past president of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Statistical Society, and the ASA. Professor Gnanadesikan is the author of more than 75 technical publications and author/editor of three previous books.