Paul W. Mielke, Jr. is Emeritus Professor at Colorado State University and a fellow of the American Statistical Association. He received a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Minnesota before training in meteorology at the University of Chicago for the U.S. Air Force. He earned an M.A. in mathematics from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Minnesota. In 1963 he joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Colorado State University, retiring in 2002. His research interests are in permutation methods, meteorology, and environmental issues.