Chaired by G. Slade Cargill, III (IBM Watson Research Center), D. Wayne Goodman (Texas A & M University), and J. Francis Young (University of Illinois), the 1988 MRS Fall Meeting was the largest on record. A strong and varied program of 24 technical symposia attracted over 3,700 participants from Monday, November 28 to Friday, December 4. Rounding out the meeting program were the lunchtime tutorial lectures of Symposium X, Frontiers of Materials Research; a forum on the Materials Science and Engineering Study, which previewed the forthcoming National Research Council report; the Plenary Address by Prof. Lester C. Thurow (Dean of the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) on “Maintaining Technological Leadership in a World Economy”; and the presentation of the 1988 Von Hippel Award to Prof. Jacques Friedet (Professor of Solid State Physics, University of Paris).

The lectures by Thurow and Friedel were both excellent presentations, although quite different in style. Thurow confounded the scientists' cynical view of economists by giving a lucid and cogently argued presentation of the societal problems underlying the loss of United States dominance in technological developments. Readers will be able to peruse the text in an upcoming issue of the MRS BULLETIN but will miss the flavor of the oral presentation. Prof. Friedel gave a delightful personal account of his scientific career, which illustrated so well the unity of materials research despite the apparent diversity of approach. His account is published elsewhere in this issue.