The Friends of J. William Doane Fellowship Fund
Bill’s most profound contribution was the creation of the Liquid Crystal Institute’s brand name and then helping it achieve its economic scale. All institute alumni significantly benefit from his work. This fellowship will acknowledge Bill's impact on the institute, our careers and our lives.
– Jianmin Chen, Ph.D. ’95
JCHEN, LLC
The friends of J. William Doane Fellowship Fund has been created by a dedicated group of Liquid Crystal Insitute (currently known as the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Insitute - AMLCI) alumni and friends in tribute to Bill Doane, one of the institute's first directors. Once funded, this new fellowship will provide a stipend and conference-related travel expenses each year for one outstanding AMLCI graduate student.
Doane's Career Highlights:
- Earned his Ph.D in Physics from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1965
- Became a Kent State faculty member in 1965
- Became director of the Liquid Crystal Institute in 1983
- Became the first director of the Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials Center in 1991
- Received the Kent State University President's Medal
- Retired from Kent State in 1996
- Co-founded Kent Displays, Inc.
- Served as a fellow of the American Physical Society
- Published 240+ articles and held 25+ patents
Doane set a new direction for the institute, putting a strong emphasis on building interactions between Kent State's liquid crystal researchers and industry, and ensuring students were looking for applications for their research. "I always thought it was very important for a research institute, in order to progress and grow, to spin off companies," Doane said. "I taught my students to make their ideas relevant to the problems of the day."
"AMLCI would not be here today without Bill Doane." said John West who worked with Doane for 34 years and succeeded him as the institute's director. "Bill is responsible for making it the world-class institute it is today."
Please consider making a donation to support this fund that will help continue the great work of AMCLI and its outstanding students.