The School of Art Collection and Galleries is pleased to announce "Metamorphosis," a permanent sculptural installation created by Violet Maimbourg, a Master of Fine Arts graduate student at Kent State University. The work was created for the Healing Garden at the University Hospital Portage Medical Center, offering visitors a space for reflection and peace. This commission grew out of the School of Art’s annual outdoor student exhibition in the Healing Garden. When the opportunity for a permanent piece arose in spring 2025, Director of Exhibitions and Collections Anderson Turner sought a ...

A Business and Community Engagement Specialist at the Heights Career Tech Consortium, Carmen Daniel, '14, was named to the 2025 list of Crain's Cleveland Business 40 Under 40. Daniel received an MEd in the Higher Education Administration program.As a first-generation college student, Carmen Daniel understands the struggles of students adrift on the choppy seas of higher education. Daniel herself grappled with the admissions process and financial aid, not knowing how to ask for assistance on such complicated matters."I didn't know anything about college, because my parents didn't go," said Dani...

It was 6 p.m. and I finally got my lunch break after opening a fast fashion retail store on a weekday at Belden Village Mall. Working on a short-staffed team as a manager at 21 years old has its perks when you have minimal bills and grown-up money. But sitting down for the first time after working 10 hours knowing you still have four more hours left, was pretty discouraging. Sure, I loved retail but I'm a creative writer. I sat down in the food court and wrote a dramatic poem about how much I hated my job. I glanced up at the ruckus being made by four guys hanging a new banner across the ...

 Preparedness isn’t created during a crisis; it’s built in the relationships and planning formed well before.  As part of Portage County’s plan to encourage and honor community partners who prepare, plan and test for emergencies, a new recognition program launched by the Portage County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) spotlights organizations demonstrating exceptional commitment to emergency management, readiness and community safety.Kent State University has been named the inaugural honoree of the Portage Preparedness Initiative, and representatives from the Portage County agency v...

Heather Null, lead teacher at the Child Development Center, recently receiving the Crane Excellence in Early Childhood Practice Award. Null was recognized for her innovative classroom practices, mentorship of emerging educators, and leadership in culturally responsive learning.Read the full story that includes a question and answer session with Null....

When Cameren Hicks graduated from Kent State University in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and a minor in finance, he knew he wanted to build a career rooted in numbers, problem-solving and analysis. Today, Hicks is a fraud modeling and analytics lead associate at KeyBank, where he helps protect customers and the company against fraudulent credit and debit card activity. A First-Generation Student With a Passion for MathHicks, a first-generation college graduate, said math always came naturally to him.“I was always into math in high school,” he said. “In high sch...

When Alexander Margetis took his first trigonometry class as a high school student in Stow, Ohio, he discovered that math came naturally to him.“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with my life and my career,” Margetis said. “But when you’re unsure, you always go with what you’re good at in school, right?” “That was the first time where I was thinking of pursuing a career in mathematics.”That early realization eventually led Margetis to Kent State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics with a minor in finance in 2018. Today, he works as a senior...

Sarah Cook’s early interest in math turned into a major and eventually a career as a senior actuary at Pacific Life, a leading insurance company.Today, Cook helps ensure financial stability for thousands of policyholders through complex modeling, financial forecasting and risk analysis. Her path to that role started at Kent State University.From Overwhelmed to OpportunityCook began her studies at Ohio State but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit. “It was too big for me,” she said. “So I chose to go to Kent, to get closer to home.”She transferred to Kent State and didn’t look back.“I...

For David Liszewski, choosing a college major wasn’t about chasing a dream job. It was about chasing good problems.“I love solving problems,” he said. “I knew [mathematics] would be a great degree as a launching platform for what I wanted to do.”This mindset led him to Kent State University, where he earned a degree in applied mathematics. Today, he’s a machine learning engineer living in Seattle and working remotely for Centerfield, a digital marketing and technology company based in Los Angeles.A Math Major with Real-World FocusLiszewski grew up in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. Kent State of...

Two faculty members from Kent State University’s School of Media and Journalism have won top honors at the Oscar-qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival for a short film that tackles the complex issue of elder abuse.  The film stars Oscar nominee Barkhad Abdi, known for his role in “Captain Phillips,” as a rideshare driver who encounters an elderly woman struggling to secure housing after being displaced from a nursing home. Dana White, an associate professor in Kent State’s media program, wrote the screenplay, while Christopher Knoblock, an associate lecturer at Kent S...