In the year ending October 1, 1992, editorial decisions were made on 58 manuscripts. Of these, 22 (38%) were accepted and 36 (62%) were initially rejected for publication. Many of the papers in the latter category were recommended for resubmission, and several were subsequently accepted. The actual acceptance rate is therefore close to 50 percent of submitted papers. An additional 10 manuscripts are currently under review.

I have the great pleasure to be the citationist for presentation of the 1992 Paleontological Society Medal to Dr. Malcolm C. McKenna. Malcolm McKenna has had a profound influence on our profession, both as a research scientist and a mentor. He is one of the most broadly trained and interested scientists I know, and he has a consuming passion for learning. He loves all aspects of paleontology—field work, literature, laboratory analysis of specimens, theory, even fossil preparation (in his enthusiasm to uncover critical specimens, or trusting only himself to perform delicate preparation of unique fossils). Malcolm has never been afraid to propose controversial ideas, to change his mind when wrong, to tackle problems that others consider insoluble, or to incorporate new scientific techniques in his work before others realize their significance.

President Kaesler, John Flynn, members of the Society, and guests, this has come as a very pleasant surprise. I am only sorry not to be here in person to blush at the remarks of my friend and former student. Or is it student and former friend? At the moment I'm in the hinterlands of China. In case John has said anything he shouldn't, rest assured that I'll get even!

Stephen J. Culver was born, nurtured, and educated in the United Kingdom. Both his bachelor's and doctoral degrees are from the University of Wales, Swansea, where he had the good fortune to study with the eminent micropaleontologist Fred Banner. Jobs for paleontologists are, evidently, perennially scarce, and in 1976 when he earned his Ph.D., he was unemployed. Consequently, he began his career by driving a lorry. Fortunately for all of us, he quickly learned that his training did not uniquely qualify him for this endeavor. Within a year he secured a post as Lecturer in Geology at the University of Sierra Leone.

Thank you Marty for your kind words and thank you to The Paleontological Society for this honor. It is rare that one gets the opportunity to thank the people that help a career to develop and prosper and I would simply like to do that today.

I have known Gerard R. Case for only twelve among his thirty-odd years of work in vertebrate paleontology, but from that relatively limited vantage point, I'd say this year's awardee is a phenomenon, in most of the literal meanings of that word. Jerry is simultaneously an amateur and the prime North American authority on Mesozoic and Paleogene shark taxonomy. That fact says much about Jerry's energies and dedication, and perhaps a bit about the state of our science; nevertheless, I am very pleased that The Paleontological Society has granted the award to him this year for many reasons, not the least of which is that Jerry will now stop asking me whether or not “they're going to give him the award while he's still alive.”

I started out as a commercial artist and cartoonist. One day, 32 years ago, while working for a printing plant in the art department, I saw large press sheets for a fossil book (it was the second printing, with color plates, of Fenton and Fenton's Fossil Book). I asked one of the printers for copies of the sheets. I brought them back into the department where I worked, and while on my lunch hour, I cut them apart and sewed them together to form a book of sorts.