th This volume is dedicated to Carl Pearcy on his 60 birthday. It collects recent contributions to operator theory, nonselfadjoint operator algebras, measure the- ory, and the theory of moments by several of the lead- ing specialists in those areas. Many of the contributors are collaborators or former students of Carl Pearcy, and the variety of the topics bears witness to the wide range of his work and interests. The editors were helped by many in the compi- lation of this volume. Srdjan Petrovic helped com- pile Carl's list of publications, while Arlen Brown and George Exner helped in writing the biographical and mathematical sketch. The work of many referees, who must remain anonymous, was very valuable. Israel Gohberg suggested that we publish this volume in the distinguished series Operator Theory: Advances and Applications. The whole volume was expertly typeset by Elena Fraboschi. We wish to extend to all of these people our heartfelt thanks. CARL M. PEARCY Carl M. Pearcy: A Biographical Sketch H. BERCOVICI fj C. FOIAS Carl Mark Pearcy, Jr. was born on August 23, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas. He was the eldest of two sons of Carl Mark Pearcy, Sr., and Carrie Edith (Tilbury) Pearcy.