The following two papers are written versions of talks given by my
father, Samuel W. Greenhouse. The first paper in the series, entitled
On Psychiatry, Epidemiology, and Statistics: A View from the
1950's and 60's, was presented in 1999 at the Harvard School of
Public Health. The second paper,
The Growth and Future of
Biostatistics (A View from the 1980's) was the 1982 invited ENAR
Presidential address delivered in San Antonio. It is an honor and a
privilege to be able to include them as part of this special issue of
Statistics in Medicine dedicated to him. Although these talks
were not part of the NIH symposium on ``Perspectives on the
Biostatistical Sciences: A Symposium in Memory of Samuel
W. Greenhouse'' (June 11, 2001) it seems fitting that in the first NIH
biostatistics symposium in which my father did not participate, he is
still able to contribute to the proceedings. In the introduction that
follows, I provide some background and context for these talks.