New products have always been of interest to both academics and practitioners, and organized, college-level instruction on the subject of new products management traces to the 1950s. By the 1990s, a new products management discipline had evolved. The Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) has flowered to close to 3, 000 members in some 50 countries around the world, and there are over 20 local chapters in the United States alone, plus international affiliates in a dozen countries. Over 300 colleges have courses on the subject of new products, and the field's journal, the Journal of Product Innovation Management, has a track record of publication of over three decades.. The job title of new products manager or director is becoming much more common and is offering much earlier entry than 20 or 25 years ago, we also see the emergence of higher level positions for careers to build to. The PDMA now offers a practitioner certification (New Product Development Professional, or NPDP), recognizes the best product developing firms (with its Outstanding Corporate Innovator award), and has been able to do what those in many fields have not, that is, merge the thinking and activity of professors and practitioners. Information on the PDMA can be found at www.pdma.org"--