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It gives me great pleasure to serve as editor of this special volume of the Journal of Inclusion Phenomena and Macrocyclic Chemistry in honor of Len Lindoy’s 75th birthday. Len is both a valued scientific colleague and a good friend. He was born in Wollongong, NSW, Australia in 1937 and undertook his B.Sc. in chemistry part-time at the University of New South Wales followed by his Ph.D. from this university in 1968 supervised by Professor Stanley Livingstone. He then spent a two-year postdoctoral period at Ohio State University working on synthetic macrocyclic chemistry under the guidance of Professor Daryle Busch, before returning to Australia in 1970 to take up a position at James Cook University (JCU) in North Queensland where he spent the next 26 years, rising through the ranks to be appointed to the first Personal Chair at JCU. In 1996, he moved to the University of Sydney to take up the Chair of Inorganic Chemistry.

During his entire career, Len has been very ably assisted by his wife Fay who, although not a chemist, continues to contribute to what has been and remains a team effort.

Len is currently the author or co-author of around 350 publications and patents and continues to work full-time in research with emeritus status at the University of Sydney. He has received a number of awards and honours during his career including, most recently, the Centenary Lectureship and Medal of the RSC (2009), the Leighton Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (2008) and the Craig Medal of the Australian Academy of Science (2009). He holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Wollongong, Australia, and Edinburgh, UK.

This special issue contains a total of 41 contributions originating from 18 countries. The authors include many of Len’s friends, past members of his group, past and present collaborators, as well as many colleagues who have otherwise interacted with him over the years. When approached, all of these were more than happy to contribute to this special issue dedicated to Len’s 75th birthday.