The 52nd annual Meeting of the Cotton Insect Research and Control Conference was called to order by Gary Herzog at 3:30 on January 6, 1999. Co-chairman Herzog indicated that this had been another very successful meeting with 187 papers submitted to the conference. There were a few paper cancellations, however, the meeting has run very smoothly. Co-chairman Herzog noted the deaths of three former members of the conference and asked for a moment of silence in their memory. Those members were J.R. Brazzel, Dennis Bouchard and R.L. Hannah.