International Journal of Fracture 106: v, 2000.

© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Publisher’s Note

Since its founding by Max Williams in 1965, the International Journal of Fracture has seen
changes in style, frequency and design as well as major changes in the field of fracture. Despite
this, the Journal has always stayed true to its founding credo, as was so eloquently put forth
by Max Williams in his foreword to the first volume.
According to this credo, the Journal “would embrace a wide spectrum of materials and act as
an outlet for contributions from workers in all fields of fracture, in the hope that such a vehicle
would indeed provide a more accessible interchange of information.”
Another thing that has not changed is the immense responsibility that lies with the Editor-
in-Chief in publishing a journal of the highest possible quality and the seriousness and dedi-
cation that both Max Williams and Richard Schapery have applied to this task.
With the year 2000 marking Richard Schapery’s fifth year as the Editor-in-Chief of the
International Journal of Fracture, he expressed the wish to be released from his editorial
responsibilities. As of October 31 of this year he will step down as Editor-in-Chief and pass
his heavy responsibility on to a successor.
At that time Krishnaswamy Ravi-Chandar, Professor at The University of Texas at Austin,
will succeed Richard Schapery as Editor-in-Chief. Having already gained wide experience
with the Journal as a member of the Editorial Board and with an outstanding reputation in the
field of fracture, Richard Schapery and I are confident that he will prove to be a more than
worthy successor. I greatly look forward to working with Ravi in leading the Journal into the
electronic age.

A RNO S CHOUWENBURG Dordrecht, 06/10/00

Publishing Editor of Materials Science and Engineering
Kluwer Academic Publishers