The AVS 59^th International Symposium & Exhibition brought together about 3,000 attendees at the Tampa Convention Center, October 28 – November 2, 2012.The meeting offered technical and poster sessions, exhibits, workshops, tutorials, and short courses. The program consisted of about 140 oral sessions with more than 1,300 talks and 250 invited speakers. Unfortunately, hurricane Sandy loomed Sunday over the northeastern U.S., triggering cancelation of some talks. As an interdisciplinary, professional Society, AVS supports networking among academic, industrial, government, and consulting professionals involved in a variety of disciplines. It is committed to developing a fundamental understanding of surfaces and interfaces. Volker Rose presented an invited talk at the topical session “Emerging Probes in Magnetic Imaging, Reflectometry and Characterization”, which was organized by the Magnetic Interfaces & Nanostructures Division.