This 1994 Entomological Society of America R. F. Nelson Memorial Symposium follows President George L. Teetes’ theme of ENTOGREAT and is hereby dedicated to all those great entomologists and plant breeders who paved the way by documenting successes in plant resistance to insects. There are many ways of demonstrating successes in plant resistance to insects—students trained, courses taught, leadership roles, discovery of germplasm, released germplasm, use of resistant cultivars on the farm, dollars saved in pest control or increase in yields, safety of the newly developed crop as food, and safety for the production worker. Plant resistance to insects will continue to play a vital, important, integral role in sustainable systems of agricultural production. Plant resistance is a viable alternative to those production systems developed in past decades. Resistant cultivars are nonpolluting; ecologically, biologically, and socially acceptable; and economically feasible as a means of pest control. Resistant cultivars will become more prominent in sustainable agricultural systems in the future and will help reduce pesticide contamination of our air, lakes, ponds, and streams and mismanagement of our natural resources. Plant resistance is a pest population management tool whose time has come if we are to continue as one of the most prominent agricultural nations in the world. This presentation addresses only a few of the successes of plant resistance to insects, past and present, and illustrates the expansion of plant resistance programs and emphasis since the inception of Dr. R. H. Painter’s project at the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 1926 (Gallun and Ortman 1986).