Change of Editorship

 Luc Calliauw succeeded Fritz Loew, and under his leadership Acta's prestige among the clinical neuroscience journals grew in stature. His dedication to the job was engrossing. He renewed and enlarged both the Editorial and Advisory Boards, and the quality of the peer reviewing substantially improved the scientific quality of the journal.

 He worked unremittingly to make Acta a truly international journal, which is now publishing contributions from a much broader global horizon. In order to achieve this, he established contacts with colleagues from all over the world, particularly from Japan and other Asian countries. The fall of the Iron Curtain was also an opportunity to open-up Acta to colleagues who, up until then, had only limited access to neurosurgical literature. Luc Calliauw was undoubtedly not only a remarkable salesman but also a distinguished ambassador of European neurosurgery, a position he seems reluctant to vacate even in retirement, in view of his forthcoming post as Visiting Professor at the University of Malaysia.

 As a dedicated member of the E.A.N.S., in which he served as Secretary and Vice President, he was instrumental in strengthening the ties between the journal and Society. One of his most successful projects was to introduce sponsorships so that young East-European neurosurgical students could receive Acta during their period of training. It was certainly fitting that the EANS distinguished him with its Medal of Honour and the European Lecturership in 1999. Our debt to Luc Calliauw is certainly immense, and we in the Administrative Council will miss his wisdom, experience and knowledge of the history and tradition of the EANS.

 At the same time, Hans Jürgen Reulen is retiring as Assistant Chief Editor. He has held this position since 1994 following the late J. Douglas Miller. Luc and Hans Jürgen formed a formidable team. The Assistant Chief Editor was responsible for the publication of the Proceedings Volumes of Acta Neurochirurgica. These gained a new profile under his guidance. About 3 volumes were published per year (a total of 25 volumes) focussing on the timely publication of high quality meetings in all subspecialty areas of our field. These volumes have become – thanks to Springer Verlag Vienna, our publishing company – a most valuable neurosurgical patrimony. The new Assistant Chief Editor will be Hans-Jakob Steiger.

 We hope that Luc and Hans Jürgen may enjoy many happy years with more time for their families and hobbies.

 To the new Editors we send our best wishes, in the confidence that they will strive to continue to keep up the level of excellence achieved by our departing colleagues.

J. L. Antunes

President of the E.A.N.S.