On the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Association for Asian Studies, it is appropriate that we should pause to analyze both the role which Asian studies should play in our institutions of higher learning and also the responsibilities which we as individuals and as a learned society have in the challenge which confronts contemporary American education. On April 2, 1948, about two hundred specialists on Asia gathered at Columbia University to complete the organization of a new scholarly, non-political, non-profit, professional association and to elect Dr. Arthur W. Hummel as the first President of the Far Eastern Association. In this decade, we have been singularly fortunate in the widespread interest and support which we have received. Fortunately, other newly established groups having scholarly interest in Asia have joined us, and last year the name was officially changed to signify better the area of our interest. As the Association of Asian Studies, we have a bright future ahead if we are willing to rise to the challenge that is before us.