George Ball, longtime Professor of Entomology at the University of Alberta, has retired. This does not mean that his contributions to entomology will cease; in fact, this academic earthquake will surely unleash a new tidal wave of excellent systematic work about ground-beetles. Nevertheless, many of George's friends, colleagues, and former students gathered in Edmonton on 6 November 1992 to participate in an entomological symposium entitled “Ball's Circle: a merry go 'round of systematics” to mark this occasion and to celebrate George's outstanding record of achievement as an entomologist and university teacher. We begin the proceedings with some rather personal reflections about George.