The 17th University Conference on Ceramics, which also was the 7th LBL/MMRD International Materials Symposium, was held on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley from July 28 to August 1, 1980. It was devoted to the subject of surfaces and interfaces in ceramic and ceramic-metal systems. The program was timely and of great interest, as indicated by the large number of contributed papers, which included contributions from ten foreign countries. These proceedings are divided into the following categories dealing with the chemistry and physics of interfaces: calculations of interface/surface states, characterization of surfaces and inter­ faces, thermodynamics of interfaces, influence of surface and inter­ faces on selected ceramic processes, grain boundary structures, effects of grain boundaries on deformation and fracture, interfacial phenomena, formation of interfaces, development of adhesion, and reactions at interfaces. A number of papers deal specifically with the Si-Si02 interface, which probably has received more attention than any other because of its importance in the electronics industry. This coverage fulfills the principal objective of the symposium which was to explore and assess the current fundamental understanding of interfaces and surfaces. A parallel objective of the symposium was fulfilled by a group of papers dealing with the correlation of interfacial characteris­ tics with mechanical behavior. This group includes papers dealing with the adherence of dissimilar materials at interfaces.