The first international conference devoted to Picosecond Phenomena was held 1ay 24-26,1978 in Hilton Head, South Carolina. After more than a decade of active research, this conference brought together scientists from widely varying disciplines who shared a common interest in studying ‘ultrafast processes. It was organized as a Topical Meeting of the Optical Society of America and attracted 187 registered participants. The conference reviewed current progress in experimental and theoreti- cal understanding of phenomena that occur on a picosecond timescale. A recent upsurge of interest has developed because of the sudden availability of sophisticated and more powerful techniques. Consequently, the conference attracted chemists, physicists, biologists and engineers who had the opportunity to learn of the new and significant results in rapidly ad- vancing areas. The enthusiasm of the scientists, the high quality of the research presented, and the attractive surroundings combined to produce a thoroughly successful and enjoyable conference. 1any people helped to make the conference so successful. Special thanks are due to Drs. Jarus Quinn and Jon Hagen, and their colleagues at the Optical Society of America for their vital assistance in smoothly imple- menting the meeting arrangements, and to the program committee for their advice and efforts. He gratefully acknowledge the financial support from our sponsors that allowed the conference to be more productive and more complete.