 Every day, we take steps small and big and make choices as we face various situations in our lives and our careers. An important step for me was when I chose to study transportation engineering here at Purdue University. Another important step was when I chose to take courses in operations research and statistics at the advice of my professors here at Purdue. Another important step was when I entered academia and decided to pursue an academic career. Perhaps the giant leap was when I chose to join Northwestern University as the William Patterson Chair in Transportation Engineering and Director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center. My name is Hanimah Masani. I received my Master's in Civil Engineering in 1978 here from Purdue, and I am a Purdue engineer.