WELCOME! On behalf of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA), the Microbeam Analysis Society (MAS), the International Metallographic Society (IMS), and the Microscopy Society of Canada/Société de Microscopie du Canada (MSC/SMC), we invite scientists throughout the world who develop and use microscopy to the jointly-sponsored Microscopy and Microanalysis 2006 meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The meeting will take place from July 30 through August 3, 2006. The venue for the meeting is the exciting, and popular Navy Pier. The Program Committee, chaired by Paul Kotula, has arranged a unique series of symposia and tutorials covering both instrumentation and applications development as well as sessions illustrating the practical uses of these developments in the biological and physical sciences. As you look through this booklet, we think you will agree that the Program Committee has put together a program that will excite microscopists in all fields. The program features two named Symposia. The first will be on “Cell Biology and Microscopy” and is dedicated to the memory of Hans Ris and the second will cover “Quantitative X-ray Microanalysis” and honors Art Chodos. The program also has sessions celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Observation of Dislocations and the 50th Anniversary of X-ray Mapping. Of course, an essential aspect of the scientific program is your vital contributed paper! We encourage you to contribute your work for presentation as part of this exciting program.