Since its inception in 1976, the overall goal of the Ovarian Workshop has been to bring together biologists from various disciplines so that they may collectively achieve a better understanding of the latest developments and define important problems in ovarian physiology. The Ovarian Workshop, which was pioneered by Dr. A. Rees Midgley, has developed into a major biennial meeting for investigators in the ovarian field. Largely as a consequence of advances in technology, especially in mo- lecular biology, progress in the area of gene expression and signal transduc- tion has been rapid. The Eighth Ovarian Workshop focused on two major topics: (1) the expression of hormonally and nonhormonally controlled genes involved in the functional and morphological differentiation of the cells forming the ovary and (2) the signaling mechanisms by which endogenous and exogenous hormones and cytokines affect ovarian differentiation and steroidogenesis. The Eighth Ovarian Workshop, held on the campus of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, July 12 to 14, 1990, was again generously funded and coordinated by Serono Symposia, USA. I would especially like to thank Dr. Lisa Kern of Serono for her expert help in organizing this meeting. The board of directors of the Eighth Ovarian Workshop consisted of Drs. Eli Adashi, JoAnne Fortune, Anne Hirshfield, Aaron Hsueh, Julia Lobotsky, Gordon Niswender, David W. Schomberg, Richard Stouffer, and Jerry Strauss. Their valuable advice and the important roles they played in the planning of the scientific program are gratefully acknowledged.