Abstract: We examine Peter Hall's early research, undergraduate teaching, and PhD supervision, using the theme of extreme order statistics to highlight interesting aspects of these activities. Focusing on this period allows us to see Peter when, like all academics in the early part of their careers, he was becoming an academic and still establishing himself. That he succeeded so greatly and rapidly began to make the many remarkable contributions that adorn his distinguished career, makes this early, formative stage particularly interesting to explore.

Key words and phrases: Endpoint of a distribution, order statistics, rates of convergence, regular variation, threshold selection.