The founding editor of the Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics was Dr David Gardner. He edited the journal for 7 years from its first issue in March 2014  until Volume 7, Issue 1 in March 2020. Dr Gardner characterised his tenure as editor as "one hell of a ride" in which he felt privileged to interact with so many colleagues from around Asia and beyond. He is particularly grateful to the many colleagues who generously volunteered their time to review submissions to the journal. Without their dedication and professionalism, he said, the journal would never have survived.