ESCA has now been in existence for more than a decade. In just over 10 years, the Association has succeeded in becoming a landmark in the Speech Science community and is now reaching a turning point, with the opportunity later this week - of becoming a completely International Association. This success is the result of the involvement of many people; people who have always been convinced that the links that exist between scientists working in the field of Speech Communication should translate into a supporting organization; an organization that co-ordinates and stimulates scientific and technological efforts across the breadth of the field. One of those among us has dedicated an exceptional amount of his time, energy and talent in establishing, developing and promoting the Association over the past decade and that person is Joseph MARIANI of LIMSI in France.
President of ESCA during the first four years of the Association's existence, Joseph has personally masterminded many of the crucial phases in the construction and realisation of the ESCA we see today. He has also played a key rôle in establishing the Eurospeech series of conferences as an essential milestone in the life of our scientific community. On behalf of ESCA and all its members, Joseph, I am very proud to present you with a unique 'ESCA Special Service Medal' for your key role as first President of the Association and for the establishment of the EUROSPEECH series of conferences. Please accept this special honour as a symbol of our acknowledgement for all you have accomplished, and helped us to accomplish, during the first decade of ESCA's existence.