For the first time, humans stood on the moon. "Half-a-million strong" turned a three-day rock festival into the cultural icon of an entire generation. A small team of computer nerds in California got four of their machines to talk to each other, signaling the birth of today's information highway, better known as Internet. The New York Mets took the World Series.

And in Tallahassee, Florida State University came forth with Research in Review. OK, so maybe the latter development escaped Walter Cronkite's attention that year. But from our corner, the event was nonetheless momentous in its own right. For the first time, Florida State University--at the tender age of 22--felt it had something to say, in some detail, about its contributions to research and scholarship. Newly installed director of research and graduate dean Dr. Robert Johnson started the publication on two premises: first, that research, in his words, "is the lifeblood of graduate education" and thus should be promoted through every means possible; and two, that public universities are obligated to tell taxpayers what faculty members do and why they do it.

Johnson was picking up on an emerging theme that a quarter-century later resonates strongly through American academe. Today, according to the University Research Magazine Association, at least 55 campuses nationwide publish magazines devoted exclusively to communicating their research to both internal and external audiences. Many of these magazines have succeeded in distinguishing their respective campuses in ways simply not possible through other means.

Twenty-five years ago this November, Johnson's office produced Vol. 1, No. 1 of Research in Review. This eight- page issue carried three articles: a feature on the work of FSU biochemist Dr. Earl Frieden; an account of how FSU's annual funding fortunes for research had improved 49-fold in 13 years; and an article on educational research with the now quaint-sounding lead asking "Where is computer- assisted instruction headed?"

Introducing this maiden issue, and dozens thereafter, was founding editor Clifton Paisley, to whom supporters of this magazine owe a large debt of thanks. Paisley, now retired from FSU but still an active, and noted, writer of regional histories of North Florida, served as editorÑwith the exception of a two-year hiatusÑuntil November 1980. In 1981, Paisley returned briefly to the post upon the sudden death of Anthony Neville, appointed editor earlier that year. For better or worse, since the spring of '82 the post has been filled by yours truly.

Thanks primarily to a faculty and administration that sees no reason why FSU should be obliged to take a back seat to other institutions when it comes to lauding its scholarly achievements, the magazine has undergone considerable changes in recent years, and we submit that most have been for the better. But if you follow the argument that the quality of publications produced by a major university should reflect the quality of what actually goes on there, as we do, then Research in Review still has a way to go to get where it needs to be, in our humble opinion. As Vice President Johnson's comments in this issue underscore, the simple fact is that on many academic planes, Florida State University has become a university to be reckoned with thanks to an extraordinarily hard-working and innovative faculty. Whatever level of success this magazine has achieved is but one more testimony to that fact.

Now that the magazine is well into adulthood, there is genuine cause for celebration. Since 1983, the publication has won more than 45 national, regional and state honors from peer groups in the publishing field. As a consequence, the university's name has been heard by influential leaders in higher education, in public relations and in business often for the first time outside of an athletic context. We figure that alone should be reason enough to keep the lights on around here for awhile yet.

Frank Stephenson, Editor