From the Editor

Michelle Effros

This issue marks the end of my first year as editor of the Newsletter. With the end of the calendar year comes an array of announcements regarding awards and honors bestowed upon our esteemed colleagues in the information theory community. As we celebrate these achievements, we also look forward to another year and another opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of our community. This issue contains a variety of calls for nominations for IEEE awards and honors. We sincerely hope that you will take the time heed these calls to help the IEEE and the Information Theory Society recognize the accomplishments of our colleagues and, through them, the Society.

This issue also includes a number of reflections on the people and ideas that hold the information theory community together. In this issue, Aaron Wyner holds a conversation with Jacob Ziv (originally in honor of his 65th birthday but also a fitting tribute to his recent receipt of the 1997 Shannon Award); Jerry Gibson reflects on his view of information theory and the Society; Tony Ephremides provides some historical perspective on information theory's place in the greater scheme of things; and Sol Golomb challenges us with three new problems.

As many of you have already learned, the Newsletter is also available on the Society web site (). The site contains a new directory of society researchers and a collection of thesis abstracts in addition to past issues of the Newsletter. We welcome you to visit the site and to send web site comments and submissions to Ramesh Rao (rrao@ucsd.edu).

Please help me to make the Newsletter as interesting and informative as possible by contributing suggestions, news, and articles. The deadlines for receiving material for the next few issues are as follows.

Electronic submission, especially in LaTeX format, is encouraged. I may be reached at the following address.