The June 14–19, 1993, conference on Groups of Lie Type and their Geometries took place in Como, Italy, at the lovely 18th century Villa Olmo on the scenic shore of Lake Como. It brought together experts and interested mathematicians from numerous countries. The scientific program centered around invited expository lectures; there also were short research announcements, including talks by younger researchers.

The conference focused on both the structure theory and the geometry of groups of Lie type, with emphasis on recent results and open problems. Special attention was drawn not only to the interplay between group-theoretic methods and geometric and combinatorial aspects of groups of Lie type, but also to important and occasionally unexpected connections with other branches of mathematics.

Expanded versions of most of the talks appear in these Proceedings. This volume is intended to provide a stimulating collection of themes for a broad range of algebraists and geometers. Among those themes, represented within the conference or these Proceedings, are the following: (1) Subgroups of finite and algebraic groups, (2) Buildings and other geometries associated to groups of Lie type or Coxeter groups, (3) Generation, and (4) Applications.

We are grateful to the authors for their efforts in providing us with manuscripts in TEX. Roger Astley, Mathematics Editor of Cambridge University Press, has been very helpful and supportive throughout the prepration of this volume.

The organizing committee consisted of L. Di Martino (Milan), W. M. Kantor (Eugene), 0. H. Kegel (Freiburg), and L. A. Rosati (Florence).