My Ph.D. is in Entomology from the University of Kansas in 1993 under the guidance of Charles D. Michener. Mich was a remarkable mentor both about science and life. I first began studying bees as a Master's student under Bob Smith and Steve Buchmann in Entomology at the University of Arizona. My B.Sc. was also from the University of Arizona from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.