The Association for Computational Linguistics is twenty years old. We have much to be proud of: a fine journal, significant annual meetings, and a strong presence in the professional community. Computational Linguistics, itself, has much to be proud of: influence in the research community, courses in universities, research support in government and industry, and attention in the popular press. Not to spoil the fun, but the same was true twenty years ago and the society and the field has had to go through some difficult times since then. To be sure, much has changed. The ACL has over 1200.
