Editor’s Note: The article was updated to provide clarification on the Distinguished Alumni Awards and further background information on the 60th anniversary of the Advanced Materials & Liquid Crystal Institute.

The Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute’s 60th Anniversary Distinguished Alumni Awards event welcomed back alumni while recognizing their work.

Torsten Hegmann, professor, research scholar and the director of the AMLCI Institute, said part of the prestigiousness of the institute is the alumni and their careers since graduating.

“During the event, these people shared that one sort of common denominator was the kind of education, care and just a love for the sciences that they experienced here with the mentors and the [principal investigators] that are a member of this institute,” he said.

In 1965, the university’s board of trustees authorized the formation of the then Liquid Crystal Institute. From the formation of the institute, the liquid crystal field was established at the university.

“You look at who has been the number one place in the world for liquid crystal research, it’s Kent State University, and that’s because of the institute,” Hegmann said.

Ashley Shalhoup, business manager of the AMLCI, said the event was important in recognizing the attendees because of the work they conducted following their time in Kent.

“These awards are important because we aren’t just congratulating certain Kent alumni, these are alumni who gave back to our school. They put in some type of research while at Kent which makes it even more memorable for them and us,” Shalhoup said.

Thorough planning went into this event in order to make it special, as Shalhoup said the planning for the event had started a year ago.

“We started brainstorming over a year ago, but mostly the last couple of months have been busy putting it all together,” Shalhoup said.

She said it was very important to invite all alumni, students and most valuable players back for the 60th anniversary event. 

“A big part of us planning so far ahead was trying to make sure everyone was able to attend,” Shalhoup said. “It was a very important event that we wanted to bring everyone back together for.”

Anastasiia Svanidze, a research associate, came to the awards to meet new people and experience today’s events.

“I’m here for the events that are taking place today and for the networking opportunities,” Svanidze said. “There are great opportunities to meet people here, and I am glad to have come and experienced it.” 

Shalhoup also mentioned the networking opportunities for students here at Kent State. 

“It’s a great opportunity for students to be able to make great connections with alumni,” Shalhoup said. “There are so many networking possibilities that can be made today.”

The Distinguished Alumni Awards recipients were: James Anderson, Philip J. Bos, Jianmin Chen, Jianlin Li, Lu Lu, Erica Montbach, Ivan Smalyukh, Maria Joao Vaz, Charles Wang, Philip E. Watson and Haiji (Jim) Yuan. 

To determine what alumni should be awarded, Hegmann said he reached out to members of the institute, including former directors, to determine what graduates have made an impact in their field, with respect to their past work in the AMCLI, and held leadership positions at their companies.

“This is the group we settled on, and they are in both academia and administration,” he said. “Some of them have moved on to become administrators, but they were leaders in academia first.”

Lu, an award recipient, said she didn’t expect to win.

“She has already had a stellar career with Meta, and that’s a really competitive company,” Hegmann said. “To be as high up as she is in the company and to be as successful as she is in the company, we felt deserved the kind of recognition for distinguished alumni.”

Lu was grateful to come back and receive her award, as well as reconnect with friends and old professors. She was happy that she could experience this event and cherish the moment.

“There is so much work that goes into being able to obtain an award like this. All the research and sweat we put into our projects, it is very nice to receive something like this at the end,” Lu said. 

Attendees told Hegmann that the event felt “like a high school reunion,” but less awkward.

“A celebration, a networking event … many of these people, like me, have only heard of each other, but they didn’t know each other,” he said. “So, now they had a chance to actually be in a room together and exchange their stories with other generations that came before or after them.”

Kailon Fischer is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

Adriana Gasiewski is a campus editor. Contact her at [email protected].