Acknowledgments

This project took years to finish, as one might expect, and required the steadfast commitment of numerous people to push toward publication. First, the Handbook results from the collective commitment and work of the more than 50 scholars who have contributed their expertise to this volume. The extraordinarily high response rate to our participation request was somewhat surprising, but consistent with our observations about the social networks community’s interest in contributing to new intellectual projects and—perhaps more importantly—in building tools for “new” researchers or for “old” researchers interested in thinking about new things.

Second, we are especially thankful for the support of James Cook, our editor at Oxford University Press, who initially saw the value of and remained enthusiastic for this project. Emily Mackenzie and the numerous members of the editorial and production team at Oxford were also instrumental to bringing the Handbook to fruition.

Third, we are thankful for the broader community of network scholars who have inspired us through the years and motivated our thinking about networks. jimi adams, in particular, has been a frequent sounding board on all issues related to social networks big and small. Our colleagues at Duke and the University of Oregon have also been key audiences, notably the networks-leaning folks, especially the fabulous PhD students Jeanine Cunningham and Nicholas Theis at the University of Oregon who read drafts of numerous chapters.

Fourth, we are grateful for the support of the Duke Network Analysis Center for the opportunity the Center provides for network researchers to exchange ideas.

Last, we are thankful to Jill Harrison, Henry Harrison Light, and Lisa Keister.