Matthew E. and Nancy S. Likens, both 1975 Kent State graduates, have been strong supporters of the Crawford Hall building project. In recognition of their gift, the Kent State Board of Trustees named the Matthew E. and Nancy S. Likens Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship Suite in their honor.
What are your educational backgrounds?
Matt Likens is a 1975 Kent State Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing alumnus. Nancy Likens is a 1975 Kent State Bachelor of Arts in deaf education alumna.
Matt, can you share some professional highlights?
After graduating from Kent State University, I began my career at Johnson & Johnson Corporation and soon moved to Baxter Healthcare International, where I enjoyed a 23-year career. During my tenure at Baxter, I held 10 positions with ascending levels of responsibility, culminating in the roles of President of Baxter Biotech North America and President of Renal Dialysis in the U.S. Thirteen of those 23 years involved international or global responsibilities. Having grown up just six miles from Kent in Ravenna, Ohio, and commuting to school for four years, one of my goals was to eventually see the world. My Baxter experiences allowed me to do just that including living in Munich, Germany for three years with our family when I was VP of Marketing for Baxter BioTech Europe.
I retired as President and CEO of GT Medical Technologies, Inc., based in Tempe, AZ. GT Medical Technologies, Inc. is a medical device start-up company with a mission to improve the lives of patients with brain tumors. Their first treatment, GammaTile™ Therapy, is an innovative, surgically targeted radiation therapy for operable brain tumors. I previously held the same position at Ulthera Inc., becoming CEO and the second employee in August 2006. During the next eight years, the focused ultrasound company grew to almost $100 million in revenue with 230 employees doing business in 55 countries around the world. After filing an IPO in early 2014, the company was acquired by Merz Pharma for $600 million. In 2015, I was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young for the Mountain and Desert Region.
I currently serve on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council Healthcare Advisory Committee and for six years I was a member of the City of Mesa (AZ) Economic Development Advisory Board. I am a member of the Kent State Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s Advisory Board. I was deeply honored to receive the Kent State Alumni Association’s 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award and will be inducted into the Ravenna High School Ravens Hall of Fame in 2024.
Nancy, can you share some professional highlights?
After graduating from Kent State University in 1975, I pursued my passion to teach the hearing impaired. I began my career as a teacher of the hearing impaired in the Rochester (New York) City Schools and during the next 10 years also taught in Houston, Chicago and Denver. During that time, I earned a master’s degree in hearing-impaired education from New York University in 1979.
Following the birth of our children, Gregory in 1984 and Alexa in 1987, I transitioned from full-time employment to part-time roles including teaching sign language, tutoring children with learning disabilities and hearing impairment, teaching at my own aerobics franchise and working in church office administration. I also served in leadership roles at various parent/teacher organizations, most notably as president of the PTO at the Munich International School in Munich, Germany, a school with families from 42 nations.
I remain actively involved in a women’s philanthropic organization and was recently church council chair at the First United Methodist Church in Mesa, AZ and sing in our church choir.
Can you each share some of your favorite memories from your time at Kent State?
- Happy hours on Fridays at the Student Union Rathskeller (Matt)
- Marketing classes with Professor Paul L. Pfeiffer and Professor Victor Gravereau stimulated my interest in becoming a marketing major (Matt)
- Hanging out at Craig’s Sunoco Gas Station across from front campus (Matt)
- Making the Kent State freshman basketball team and especially playing significant minutes in the game against Ohio State at St. John’s Arena in Columbus (Matt)
- Winning the All-University Intramural basketball championship sophomore year with the Palms team (Matt)
- Finishing second to Grant Wyborny in the All-University one-on-one basketball tournament during junior year (Matt)
- Spending many hours studying at the campus library (Matt and Nancy)
- Teaching swimming to the children of Kent State faculty and learning-disabled local children (Nancy)
What was your campus involvement during your time at Kent State?
- Kent State freshman basketball team (Matt)
- Kent State Field Hockey team for three years (Nancy)
- Member of the Mortar Board Organization (Nancy)
How have you both stayed connected to Kent State since graduation?
Nancy utilized her undergraduate degree as the foundation to pursue her master's in teaching the hearing impaired while working full-time. We have both been able to visit the campus regularly when visiting family members in the area. My involvement in the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s National Advisory Board has been a valuable experience and I give credit to Dean Deborah Spake for recruiting me and continually improving the college’s standing.
Matt, how did your Kent State degree/experience help you throughout your career?
I was originally a journalism major before changing to telecommunications during my sophomore year. I then decided to major in business during my junior year and I was still determined to graduate in four years. Basic economics, accounting, finance and marketing classes dominated my last two years but the communication skills learned during the first two years of college were just as valuable. This combination has served me well in developing marketing campaigns, leading large organizations and effectively communicating with a variety of constituencies.
Why was it meaningful to you to support Crawford Hall and the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship?
The best investment I have made in life was in my education at Kent State. Because my mother worked in the registrar’s office, I received an employee discount on tuition and books. My first quarter tuition in 1971 was a grand total of $92 and I lived at home. Although tuition increased after that, it was always reasonable compared to smaller private schools as well as the larger, better-known schools. Add to that the fact that I met and eventually married Nancy Saucke from Rochester, New York. We have been married for 44 years and have two children and three grandchildren – what a payoff! I was deemed qualified to be hired by two Fortune 500 companies (J&J and Baxter International) as well as work at and lead three start-up life science companies. Being able to give back to Kent in this fashion has been quite gratifying.
How do you hope Kent State students will benefit from your gift and the new business building?
This promises to be the type of facility that accomplishes a multitude of goals:
- The state-of-the-art design on front campus can enhance public impression of the entire university.
- It will be key in attracting top-notch faculty to the college as well as other colleges.
- The open design will be ideal as a central meeting place for students, faculty and university visitors for decades to come.