"I am Danish, grew up and studied in Denmark. At the time universities there were quite different from what they are here: When you enter the university after high school, you already are determined about what subjects you want to study. You go right on to study one or two subjects. Not everything. For example, I chose math and physics, and I studied both for the first three years, and then math for the remaining years (getting a masters degree, required to become a high school teacher in Denmark). Also, there were no midterms, all exams were at the end of the academic year. After I got my degree I spent two years in Germany and the US, then got a job in Denmark. I was at the university of Copenhagen for ten years, then I got a job in Maryland as a full professor; I was there from ‘84 to 2007, when I came to Notre Dame."