To the members of the American Society of Parasitologists, I offer my appreciation for the opportunity to serve as your president. When I was notified of my successful election as an officer, it brought to mind that famous remark by Adlai Stevenson who said, “In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take.” So, what I initially perceived as somewhat of a risky venture, proved to be a more valuable and interesting experience than I anticipated. Let's hope that my presidential address has a similar outcome.

Before preparing my presentation, I spent time reading many ASP presidential addresses, and I'll be borrowing ideas of past presidents for my talk. Although I could try to pass off my review of these addresses under the guise of “research,” I must make a couple of confessions, which just reflects my Catholic upbringing. First, I haven't always attended presidential addresses....

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