The Kent State University Board of Trustees approved the establishment and registration of a Community Benefit Company in Rwanda, Africa, during the Board’s regular quarterly meeting held May 25 at the Berkshire Local Schools in Burton, Ohio, which is located on the campus of Kent State University at Geauga. Kent State has realized an immediate need to establish a private limited company, designated as a not-for-profit Community Benefit Company, that can serve as a strategic starting point for engaging in the African continent’s expanding higher education market. According to the Institute ...

Dana White and Chris Knoblock are Kent State’s film dynamic duo. Throughout their past few years of teaching at Kent State, the couple has created an environment for students to experiment with filmmaking in a way that allows them to find their passion in the industry. After moving from New York City to Los Angeles as actors, the two wanted to get their hands on the camera and editing process to start making their own movies. Since starting their work behind the camera, Knoblock has cultivated an extensive resume as Director of Photography and White has done a lot of work in editing for net...

Kent, OH – The School of Art is thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Pinyan Zhu as Assistant Professor of Art History, with a focus on Asian Art History. She will join the Kent State faculty in fall 2022. "We are very excited to have her join us," said interim School of Art director Peter Christian Johnson.  Pinyan Zhu specializes in Chinese Buddhist visual culture. She received a doctorate in art history from the University of Kansas in 2022. Her dissertation “The Landscape of the Longmen Grottoes: Practices, Repentance, Jeweled Buddhas, and Burials under Emperor Wu Zhao (r....

After a national search, the School of Art is thrilled to announce the appointment of Jillian Sokso as its new director. Sokso comes to us from George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, where she served as the director of the School of Communication and Design and professor of art and design. "We are delighted to welcome Jillian Sokso to Kent State as the new director of the School of Art," said Diane Petrella, dean of the College of the Arts. "Jillian brings a variety of expertise to her new role, including an impressive acumen in her field of printmaking and a wealth of knowledge gained d...

Kent State University at Salem recently presented the Friend of the Campus Award to Mark Seigal, owner of the Salem Giant Eagle, the highest honor presented annually to non-students. It recognizes community members who work to better the campus through their time and talents over the years, and who embody the quote by Helen Keller: “The welfare of each is bound up in the welfare of all.” Seigal has been with the Salem Giant Eagle for 26 years but began working in grocery stores owned by his father when he was a child. His parents, Arnie and Sally Seigal, owned and operated several grocery sto...