Symmetries in Science VII

The Symposium "Symmetries in Science VII: Spectrum Generating Algebras and Dynamic Symmetries in Physics" was held at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in Niigata, Japan Campus, during the period August 28-31, 1992. The Symposium was held in honor of Professor Francesco lachello on the occasion of his 50th birthday. We wish to thank the colleagues and friends of Franco for their participation in the Symposium as well as for contributing articles to this volume honoring him. It was their commitment and involvement which made this Symposium a success. We also wish to thank Dr. Jared H. Dorn, the director of SIUC-N, for his support in the planning and the execution of the Symposium. Moreover we wish to thank Mayor Nobuo Kumakura of Nakajo town and Mr. Kaichi Suzuki of the school entity "The Pacific" for their friendly support. Bruno Gruber, SIUC-N Takaharu Otsuka, University of Tokyo v LAUDATIO ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH BIRTHDAY OF PROFESSOR FRANCESCO IACHELLO I first met Franco lachello in 1974. Driving a smart Alfa-Romeo, he came to meet me at the station at Groningen where I was to spend a summer conducting research.