Editorial The Jan H. Stock Valedictory Issue

Professor Jan H. Stock, an inspiring zoologist of international fame (born 22 February 1931), will retire from the University of Amsterdam at the end of this year. It is his wish to settle in his beloved island Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles and there to continue his taxonomic and zoogeographic researches, especially on Crustacea and Pycnogonida. So, we may expect many more “Amsterdam Expeditions to the West Indian Islands” reports in the years to come, either by Jan Stock himself, or by others, based on material collected by him. Meanwhile, the editorial board of Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde will lose a most remarkable and energetic editor. Jan Stock has led our editorial board for 23 years in a very dynamic way. When he took over the editorship from his predecessor, Professor H. Engel, in 1968, the journal was a sedate, beautifully printed elite periodical appearing only once a year. As early as 1970, he made it appear biannually with a more attractive cover. During his editorship the total number of pages published per year grew considerably, resulting in the recent decision (1989) to publish Bijdragen quarterly. He stimulated the editorial activities and maintained contacts with the authors in an easy, uncomplicated way. As for its contents, Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde means Contributions to Zoology; it was Jan’s adage that articles for Bijdragen should always contribute something new to zoology — he saw to it that they did.