This is the first volume in the series, Israel Mathematical Conference Proceedings, published by the Weizmann Science Press of Israel. The volume contains the proceedings of “The Ring Theory Symposium” at Bar-Ilan University and “The Division Algebra Workshop” at Hebrew University, which were held in honor of S. A. Amitsur in late 1988 and early 1989. Virtually every major algebraist in Israel contributed to these events by inviting participants for a period coinciding with the conferences.

The papers in this volume range from presentations of current research to survey talks and expositions and represent contributions by some of the world's leading experts in algebra and ring theory.