  The iterative diagonalization of a sequence of large ill-conditioned
generalized eigenvalue problems is a computational bottleneck in quantum
mechanical methods employing a nonorthogonal basis for {\em ab initio}
electronic structure calculations. We propose a hybrid preconditioning scheme
to effectively combine global and locally accelerated preconditioners for rapid
iterative diagonalization of such eigenvalue problems. In partition-of-unity
finite-element (PUFE) pseudopotential density-functional calculations,
employing a nonorthogonal basis, we show that the hybrid preconditioned block
steepest descent method is a cost-effective eigensolver, outperforming current
state-of-the-art global preconditioning schemes, and comparably efficient for
the ill-conditioned generalized eigenvalue problems produced by PUFE as the
locally optimal block preconditioned conjugate-gradient method for the
well-conditioned standard eigenvalue problems produced by planewave methods.
