Srinivasa Ramanujan occupies a unique place among the greatest mathematicians in history. Over the years, Ramanujan's remarkable contributions have made a deep and lasting impact in many areas of mathematics, especially in Number Theory, Analysis, The Theory of Modular Forms, and the Theory of q-Series. His discoveries have revealed unexpected and fundamental connections between these branches and other areas including the Theory of Lie Algebras and even Physics. The Ramanujan Journal will publish original research papers of the highest quality in all areas of mathematics influenced by Ramanujan (see the inside of the back cover for a list of some areas of interest to the journal). Thus the journal has a wide scope as well as a sense of focus. This will have the effect of bringing together excellent papers in these areas which would otherwise be scattered in the literature. As the sphere of Ramanujan's influence expands, the journal will suitably enlarge its scope to keep abreast of new developments. And to ensure that the journal attains its objectives, we have an International Editorial Board of leading mathematicians with a wide range of expertise.

A glance at the papers assembled in this first issue will reveal that they contain a broad range of ideas utilizing modular forms, generating functions, continued fractions, Coxeter groups and Lie algebras, among others, and we wish to maintain this healthy diversity.

Occasionally, by invitation, The Ramanujan Journal will publish survey articles which trace major developments in the areas of relevance to the journal and indicate directions for future research. In fact the opening article in the journal is a survey paper by George Andrews which is based on the History of Mathematics Lecture that he delivered at the Joint Annual Meetings of the AMS and MAA in Minnesota in August 1994. Such surveys will have the effect of increasing the readership of the journal by showing that the topics of interest to the journal are important and that the frontiers are expanding.

The very mention of Ramanujan's name reminds us of the thrill of mathematical discovery. By naming the journal after Ramanujan, we have set ourselves a very high standard. We hope that the mathematics which will fill the pages of this journal will be a source of excitement to experts and non-experts alike.

Krishnaswami Alladi
Editor-in-Chief