On October 28-29, 2003, the 64th Conference on Glass Problems took place on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This conference encompassed four topic sessions: Refractories chaired by Daryl E. Clendenen and Thomas Dankert; Energy and Combustion, chaired by Marilyn DeLong and Philip Ross; Process Control, chaired by Ruud Berkens and Robert Lowhorn; and Emerging Areas, chaired by Larry McCloskey and Robert Thomas.

The papers presented at the conference were reviewed by the respective session chairs, and underwent minor editing by the conference director, before further editing and production by The American Ceramic Society.

Waltraud M. Kriven is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Kriven received her Ph.D. in 1976 in Solid State Chemistry from the University of Adelaide in South Auatralia and her B.Sc. (Honors) and Baccalaureate degrees in Physical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Biochemistry from the same institute. She is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of phase transformations in inorganic compounds and their applications in structural ceramic composites. She has authored or co-authored over 240 research publications, and fourteen books to date.