About the author

Chad Heilig earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from the University of Florida and a Doctor of Philosophy in statistics from the University of California, Berkeley. He started with CDC as a contractor in 1997 and became a federal employee in early 2000. We worked in the Division of Reproductive Health, the Office of the Chief Science Officer, the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, the Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, and the Public Health Infrastructure. He took early retirement in 2025 and, as of posting this essay, hopes to take up a second career focusing on learners. More of his personal history appears in section 7.2.