Into the Future

Abstract

When I was an undergraduate, one of my favorite pieces of literature was The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. When the trilogy was cinematized these last years, I was delighted. Both the texts of the trilogy and the films are wonderfully creative. They are filled with exploits of heroes that capture our love of all things victorious. There are the lessons that are played out about human friendship for those who are members of The Fellowship of the Ring. There is the courage of battle against the forces of evil and destruction. There is the warmth of human care. There are tears of memory and smiles of camaraderie. Equally, there are the seething images of domination, power, and the corruption-of-self in the lustful preoccupation with The One Ring To Rule Them All. Tolkien's work is so popular because it is a mirror of the base rhythms of what it means to be human. In the end, such is the measure of what makes for monumentally significant literature and art. In the film version of Part III, The Return of the King, there is the final scene when elves and wizards, when Frodo and Bilbo, take their leave so that a New Age can dawn for all the citizens of Middle Earth. In the film Annie Lennox captures exquisitely well the poignant sensitivity and ambivalence of Frodo's leaving Sam and Merry and Pippin in her sung ballad, Into The West. That ballad speaks to us all. Nothing is forever. Change is a constant. Though they must inevitably give way to new adventures, we can never discount or deny the journeys that friends have had with one another. Indeed, Annie Lennox sings so well that, though "all souls pass," we indeed will meet again. All things change. Nothing lasts forever. In January 2013, my service as Editor of the Journal of Research Administration will come to an end after seven years. At that time, Dr. Timothy Atkinson will become the new Editor. I am delighted with his appointment and feel absolutely confident that he will bring the Journal into even newer heights of success and prominence. However, permit me to reflect at this time about my own tenure. Since January 2006, we have known extraordinary success. The Journal has, in a sense, been re-imagined--perhaps even re-invented! We have had unprecedented numbers of submissions in wide and diverse interdisciplinary subject areas related to our profession and all its arts and sciences. We have become indexed in several prestigious resources. The Journal Editorial Board established in these past years a completely de novo four-stage publication mentoring process that has never existed anywhere. Its formation is the subject of the special feature article in this edition. Indeed, this four-stage process of author-mentoring is a gift that the Journal has given to SRA--and that SRA has given to the world! The Journal has indeed become a major success for the academy of our entire profession. …