A star-studded lineup of scientists returned to Kent State University April 25-26 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute.
AMLCI Director Torsten Hegmann, Ph.D., said the anniversary celebrated the institute’s illustrious past and showcased the current technology scientists are researching.
“Kent State is the world’s leading institution in the area of liquid crystal – not in Ohio, not in the U.S. – in the world,” Hegmann told Kent State Today.
The weekend celebration was marked by numerous presentations of ongoing research at the institute and by its alumni operating in some of the highest industry positions across the country.
While its founding director, Glenn H. Brown, Ph.D., died in 1995, all the institute’s subsequent directors returned for the anniversary events.
Kent State is regarded as the place where modern research in the field of liquid crystals began due to the efforts of Brown, a Kent State chemistry professor. The Liquid Crystal Institute was formed in 1965, the same year Brown organized the first international conference on liquid crystals at Kent State, which is regarded as the beginning of the worldwide effort to conduct modern research in the field.
Brown’s efforts led to the practical applications of liquid crystals in devices such as watches and television screens. In 1986, the trustees renamed the institute the Glenn H. Brown Liquid Crystal Institute in his honor. The institute’s most recent renaming to the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute came in 2018 to recognize the wide range of advanced materials research at Kent State.
At the celebration, four graduate students, all working on doctorate degrees in Materials Science, were awarded the following fellowships by the institute:
- Ashley Gilmor, MS’ 24, from Wooster, Ohio, the Glenn H. Brown Fellowship for outstanding graduate students who are engaged in research on biological or biology-related topics of liquid crystals.
- Vanessa Jirón, MS ’24, from Montes De Oca, Costa Rica, the Glenn H. Brown Fellowship for outstanding graduate students who are engaged in research on biological or biology-related topics of liquid crystals.
- Matthew Deutsch, MS’ 22, originally from North Canton, Ohio, the Alfred Saupe Fellowship for an outstanding graduate student working on physics or material sciences of liquid crystals.
- Ryan Williams, BS ’21, MS ’24, from Galion, Ohio, the James Fergason Fellowship, for an outstanding graduate student working on applied research using liquid crystals.
Also presented during the anniversary weekend were 11 Distinguished Alumni Awards and four Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Learn more about the anniversary celebration and this year’s award winners.
Photos submitted by the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute.