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FOREWORD The 9th International Flavor Conference: George Charalambous Memorial Symposiiim was held July 1-4, 1997 at the Porto Myrina Palace on the Island of Limnos, Greece. This conference was organized as a tribute to Dr. George Charalambous who organized the previous eight conferences. Unfortunately, George passed away in November of 1994, only a few months after the last conference which was held on the island of Kos, Greece. The 9th Conference venue was the island of Limnos, site of the oldest city in Europe, Poliochni (opposite the city of Troy), with the conference cer'.er ard h^h' ix^ I' ruins of the Temple of Artemis. The 9th Conference follo^ved tl e ixmiiaX an 11 ^di io* •^^ the previous meetings. More than 90 papers/posters were presented by scies tis.s ?;:*;. nineteen countries. Dr. Apostolos Grimanis, a radioanalyilcal clsen -st anc. u in -i - W . of the Radioanalytical Laboratory at the National (enter fc lei "at/K K:;Sr. "Demokritos" in Athens, and cousin of Dr. Charalambc^'US, oner d he n -Q Ap w tribute to George. The paragraphs below are excerpts fron h\^ ?.»nr: trl ;.

"George was bom in Alexandria, Egypt. However, both liis parent;- were Grce ,s, co: - ., from Mytilene, capital of the Aegean island of Lesvos, Greece, k I.Tit v Je ' Charalambous since my childhood. He served in the Greek Nav^ dusin. * e ^e-.-vn World War. His battleship was sunk after an air raid, and George was one of th^ ^ jr, \ . members of the crew who survived. He was on a wooden plank in the Medirei an ,ai v , for three days, watching the sharks pass by." George studied Chemistry (B.Sc.) and Industrial Chemistry (Ph.D.) at the UiUve/si ' Edinburgh in Great Britain. In 1956, George started to work at Anheuser BMSC*. i: v Louis, Mo. He eventually became one of the directors of the company. I^.^ ^ .diivC '-.' organize the international flavor conferences in 1978. "I will remember George for his fine character, his devotion to science and to his family, and his love for Greece and the USA. He was a nice man and an excellent scientist. George will remain in our thoughts and in our hearts forever. I am sure that George's colleagues will continue to organize successftil international flavor conferences in Greece." The Conference Committee is pleased to announce that the Division of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (American Chemical Society) has agreed to sponsor a Fellowship in George's honor. The Charalambous Fellowship is established in recognition of his tremendous contributions to the Division over many years. The Conference Committee would also Uke to make preliminary announcement of the 10*^ International Conference to be held tentatively in the year 2000 on the island of Santorini, Greece. The Editors