diff -u project.module project.module
--- project.module	13 Aug 2010 06:31:37 -0000
+++ project.module	13 Aug 2010 06:45:59 -0000
@@ -858,7 +858,7 @@
   // Project itself is responsible for, so we use our implementation of the
   // hook, instead of the global load function.
   $project_perms = project_project_permission_info();
-  $maintainers = db_query('SELECT u.name, pm.* FROM {project_maintainer} pm INNER JOIN {users} u ON pm.uid = u.uid WHERE pm.nid = %d', $node->nid);
+  $maintainers = db_query('SELECT u.name, pm.* FROM {project_maintainer} pm INNER JOIN {users} u ON pm.uid = u.uid WHERE pm.nid = %d ORDER BY u.name', $node->nid);
   while ($maintainer = db_fetch_object($maintainers)) {
     $project->project['maintainers'][$maintainer->uid]['name'] = $maintainer->name;
     foreach ($project_perms as $perm_name => $perm_info) {
diff -u includes/project_maintainers.inc includes/project_maintainers.inc
--- includes/project_maintainers.inc	13 Aug 2010 06:31:37 -0000
+++ includes/project_maintainers.inc	13 Aug 2010 06:50:49 -0000
@@ -38,10 +38,12 @@
       }
       $form['maintainers'][$uid]['operations'] = array();
       if ($uid == $project->uid) {
+        // We special-case the project owner with disabled checkboxes.
+        foreach ($project_perms as $perm_name => $perm_info) {
+          $form['maintainers'][$uid]['permissions'][$perm_name]['#disabled'] = TRUE;
+        }
         $form['maintainers'][$uid]['operations']['delete'] = array(
-          '#prefix' => '<span class="disabled">',
           '#value' => t('locked'),
-          '#suffix' => '</span>',
         );
       }
       else {
@@ -93,7 +95,12 @@
         $row[] = drupal_render($form['maintainers'][$uid]['permissions'][$perm]);
       }
       $row[] = drupal_render($form['maintainers'][$uid]['operations']);
-      $rows[] = $row;
+      if ($form['#project']->uid == $uid) {
+        $owner_row = $row;
+      }
+      else {
+        $rows[] = $row;
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -106,6 +113,9 @@
   $row[] = ''; // Empty cell for the 'Operations' column on new maintainers.
   $rows[] = $row;
 
+  // Always put the owner row at the top of the table.
+  $rows = array_merge(array($owner_row), $rows);
+
   // Although using named keys in the $header array makes this form easier to
   // alter, theme_table() freaks out if the $header array has non-numeric
   // keys. So we ditch the keys at this point to avoid notices.
@@ -150,7 +160,14 @@
   // Loop over all the maintainers and update their permissions accordingly.
   if (!empty($form_state['values']['maintainers'])) {
     foreach ($form_state['values']['maintainers'] as $uid => $maintainer) {
-      project_maintainer_update($project_nid, $uid, $maintainer['permissions']);
+      // Just to be extra safe, always give the project owner full permissions.
+      if ($uid == $form['#project']->uid) {
+        $perms = array_fill_keys(array_keys(project_permission_load()), 1);
+      }
+      else {
+        $perms = $maintainer['permissions'];
+      }
+      project_maintainer_update($project_nid, $uid, $perms);
     }
   }