I met Steve Senger under hilarious circumstances. I substituted for
the calculus class Steve Senger was taking as a first year
undergraduate student at the University of Missouri. I walked in,
wrote the letter "e" on the board, and asked the class what it is.
Steve raised his hand and started telling me that it 2.7182... I
interrupted Steve and told him that all it is is the fifth letter in
the alphabet. I could see Steve mumbling "asshole" under his breath.
This was a beginning of a friendship that lasted ever since! Steve
was an engineering major throughout most of his undergraduate years
and only towards the end I was able to convince him to apply to the
Missouri graduate program in mathematics where he became my PH.D.
student.
Since then Steve and I have written numerous papers, visited each
other frequently and shared joys and sorrows of life. Steve helped
to shape my views on work-life balance that has influenced me
considerably over the past two decades.