The field of volcanology has greatly changed during the last half century. The profession is now much more diverse and interdisciplinary, even including collaborating researchers from the social and medical sciences. This new mode of cooperation and working has been more successful in mitigating volcanic hazards and risks. There are fewer of the strong-willed lone rangers of the past and more of those who work with teams to more effectively understand how volcanoes work to protect those living on or near active or potentially active volcanoes. Moreover, there are more university departments with volcanology in their curricula and more international symposia and workshops focusing on mitigation of risk posed by volcano-related hazards. We all have respected colleagues and volcano observatories in many countries. The importance of understanding explosive volcanic eruptions and tracking of eruption plumes involves volcanologists, atmospheric physicists, and air-traffic controllers and is of great interest to the aviation industry. We now have the links in place between great science and practical applications.