Before the Fourteenth General Assembly of the International Union of Geophysics and Geodesy has faded too far into the past, I feel that a word or two about it and the American Geophysical Union may not be out of place.As most of the readers ofTransactionsmust know, the Council of the AGU represents the United States in the IUGG. This is a very remarkable and unique situation and one that has worked with increasing effectiveness. Because the membership of the AGU Council changes as the leadership of its Sections change, its effectiveness as a National Committee of the IUGG is considerably enhanced. When this is combined with the work of the AGU Committee on International Participation, which has grown steadily in effectiveness under the able leadership of former President T. F. Malone, and with the work of the various committees of the National Academy of Sciences in the field of geophysics, the United States is able to send a delegation to General Assemblies that is very effective and influential.