Significant advances in modern ac/ac power converter technologies and demands of industries have reached beyond standard ac/ac power converters with voltage-source inverters fed from diode rectifiers. Power electronics converters have been matured to stages toward compact realization, increased high-power handling capability, and improving utility interface. Modern ac/ac power converter topologies with various control strategies have been introduced for the further improvements, such as matrix converters, current-fed converters, PWM rectifiers, and active power filters. In this dissertation, several new converter topologies are proposed in conjunction with developed control schemes based on the modern ac/ac converters which enhance performance and solve the drawbacks of conventional converters. In this study, a new fault-tolerant PWM strategy is first proposed for matrix converters. The added fault-tolerant scheme would strengthen the matrix converter technology for aerospace and military applications. A modulation strategy is developed to reshape output currents for continuous operation, against fault occurrence in matrix converter drives. This study designs a hybrid, high-performance ac/ac power converter for high power applications, based on a high-power load commutated inverter and a mediumpower voltage source inverter. Natural commutation of the load commutated inverter is actively controlled by the voltage source inverter. In addition, the developed hybrid system ensures sinusoidal output current/voltage waveforms and fast dynamic response in high power areas. A new topology and control scheme for a six-step current source inverter is proposed. The proposed topology utilizes a small voltage source inverter, to turn off main thyristor switches, transfer reactive load energy, and limit peak voltages across loads. The proposed topology maximizes benefits of the constituent converters: highpower handling capability of large thyristor-based current source inverters as well as fast and easy control of small voltage source inverters. This study analyzes, compares, and evaluates two topologies for unity power factor and multiple ac/ac power conversions. Theoretical analyses and comparisons of the two topologies, grounded on mathematical approaches, are presented from the standpoint of converter kVA ratings, dc-link voltage requirements, switch ratings, semiconductor losses, and reactive component sizes. Analysis, simulation, and experimental results are detailed for each proposed topology.