It is not often that an individual can look back over the span of 70 years and find the landscape generously sprinkled with achievements, honors and awards. Even less often is that individual found to be still active and productive at the very heart of his field. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the Department of Computer Science, there is such an individual.

Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. has had a distinguished career both in industry and academia. At IBM, he was chief architect on the System 360 series of computers developing innovations that are still fundamental parts of computer systems more than 30 years later. In 1964 he founded the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, served as its chairman for the first 20 years and guided it to its current position of national prominence as a research center.

Dr. Brooks has received many awards and honors over the years including the ACM A.M. Turing Award, the National Medal of Technology, the Bower Award and Prize in Science from the Franklin Institute, and the Allen Newell Award from the Association for Computing Machinery. Most recently, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

We want to take this occasion to honor both the continuing contributions of Dr. Brooks and to explore new horizons for the discipline of computer science. We have designed a conference that seeks to acknowledge Dr. Brooks and his many accomplishments, and that offers an opportunity for UNC faculty, students, alumni and distinguished guests to meet with like-minded computer professionals in a relaxed, but academic setting.

This conference will provide a number of both formal and informal opportunities for the participants to discuss current activities and developments in the field as well as to explore future possibilities. We hope that you will join us and be a part of a truly unique event.