From August 22 to August 26, 2016, the Institute of Mathematics of Academia Sinica hosted a “Conference in finite groups and vertex algebras,” which was dedicated to Bob Griess on the occasion of his 71st birthday. There were two major themes of the conference - finite group theory and vertex operator algebras, in which Bob has made signific ant contributions. The papers in this volume arose from that conference.

There will be three issues of the proceedings. This is the first issue which consists of articles primarily related to finite group theory and related topics. The second issue will focus on the theory of vertex operator algebras and some quantum algebras. The third issue will consist of articles studying the automorphism groups of various algebraic and geometric objects.

We thank all the speakers for their enlightening lectures in a very memorable conference and thank all the authors for their contributions to the proceedings.