News Archive

Kent State Golden Flashes excel in a range of activities, and some students are forging their own paths by owning and operating small businesses during their college years. With endless opportunities and resources at their fingertips, Kent State students have found success as entrepreneurs across a range of industries. Here are five of them.

Her commitment and passion for math mixed with a desire to help others is what led Abbey Eng, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Public Health at Kent State University to earn the 2020 Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA). The OTA, presented by the University Teaching Council, credits three full-time non-tenure track and part-time faculty members for being among the most dedicated and motivated faculty at the university.

Of the 33,984 awarded computer science (CS) bachelor’s degrees in 2020, only 21% of CS graduates identified as women, 3% as Black, and 8.5% as Hispanic (Zweben & Bizot, 2021). Susan Fisk, Ph.D., associate professor of sociology, is using her expertise in social-psychology to change that and improve the field of computing. Fisk was awarded her third National Science Foundation grant to continue her work on broadening participation in computing and improving undergraduate STEM education. 

Kent State’s high-powered offense struggled to move the ball against Northern Illinois, and the Huskies prevailed 41-23 over the Golden Flashes in the MAC Championship game in Detroit.

The interruption to Kent State Ashtabula associate lecturer Joan Steidl’s Intro to Human Services class recently was for a good reason, as Dean Susan Stocker and many of her colleagues were there to make the surprise announcement of Steidl being a recipient of the Kent State Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) for 2020. Steidl is one of three recipients across the Kent State system awarded for 2020 and is just the second Kent State Ashtabula faculty member to win the award.

As Kent State returns to a school year that resembles pre-pandemic times, First Star Kent State Academy has begun to imagine new programs. The Academy is a free, comprehensive four-year college access program for youth in foster care. The program engages a cohort of up to 30 students in a variety of learning opportunities, including academic support, career exploration, social and cultural activities and more.

This year, Kent State University donors demonstrated the power of philanthropy by giving at unprecedented levels. The 2021 Giving Tuesday campaign shattered the previous records, more than tripling last year’s record of $2.2 million.

Following a national search, R. William (Bill) Ayres IV, Ph.D., of Toledo, Ohio, has been selected as the new dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University at Trumbull. Ayres is currently a professor of political science at the University of Toledo, where he previously served as senior vice provost for academic affairs from 2018 to 2020 and vice provost for academic affairs from 2017 to 2018.

Kent State’s Class of 2025 stands tall – more than 3,982 stories tall. Each of our new, first-year students offers a unique and engaging story.

This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will include a choreographed jump rope routine from a member of Kent State’s Class of 2025.

Timothy Assal, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Geography, was awarded a grant as a co-principal investigator on a multi-institutional project, “Vulnerability of lower-ecotone aspen forests to altered fire regimes and climate dynamics in the northern Great Basin” (a three-year $299,842 total award with $89,600 going to Kent State), which is funded by the Northwest Climate Adaption Science Center. This collaboration includes the United States Geological Survey in Boise, Idaho, Utah State University, and the United States Bureau of Land Management.

The Kent and Kent State University communities can head downtown to go ice skating starting Nov. 20, courtesy of Kent Skates presented by AMETEK. This special attraction has been created through a partnership between the city of Kent, the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center, the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Kent and Kent State.

The American Academy of Nursing recently announced that Versie Johnson-Mallard, Ph.D., APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP, Kent State University College of Nursing Dean, professor and Henderson Endowed Chair, has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors until 2024. In this role Johnson-Mallard will oversee the Academy’s strategic planning and financial management.  

Kent State University’s season of giving launched on Nov. 1 with Giving Tuesday, a monthlong celebration of philanthropy. Now halfway through the campaign, the generosity of the Kent State community has already begun to shine. 

Mietek Jaroniec, Ph.D., a Kent State University professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, is once again on Clarivate's list of Highly Cited Researchers in the world.

Lt. Col. Adrien G. Humphreys is the department chair and a professor of military science at Kent State, a position that is responsible for overseeing the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Learn more about Humphreys as she answers 10 questions about herself and her decision to take on this role.

Kent State Ashtabula’s Viticulture and Enology programs were recently awarded a $180,000 grant from the Ohio Grape Industries Committee for a pair of research projects to be conducted over the next two years. Kent State Ashtabula is partnering with the Ashtabula Agricultural Research Station, a division of the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, to conduct the projects at Markko Vineyards in Conneaut, Ohio.

Kent State’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Chapter earned seven national awards for the work done throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, including for first time in Chapter history, two Teahan Awards, the highest Chapter honors.

Kent State University’s Brain Health Research Institute celebrated the grand opening of its new lab spaces on Friday, Nov. 5, with an afternoon of activities that included a keynote presentation, space dedication, tours and student research demonstrations. The new space, featuring interdisciplinary research facilities, is located on the lower level of the Integrated Sciences Building on the Kent Campus.

A recent town hall provided Kent State University's students, staff and faculty the opportunity to discuss Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality -- topics which have frequently debated across the country.