Bill Doane, inventor of CH-LCD, founder of Kent Displays

Posted by – May 29, 2018

Dr. J. William Doane is a world renowned expert in the field of liquid crystal materials and devices. Together with William Manning he co-founded Kent Displays, Inc. in 1993 and the company is now famous for its Cholesteric LCD based Boogie Board writing tablets that use Dr Doane’s inventions which I have filmed here. Dr. Doane, was the director of the world-renowned Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University from 1983-1996 and led the effort during that time to establish the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Liquid Crystalline Optical Materials (ALCOM). As an active member of the international science community, he has held visiting appointments and maintained cooperative research programs in several countries. Dr. Doane was instrumental in formalizing the International Liquid Crystal Society and served as the organization’s first treasurer from 1990-1996. Dr. Doane was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1982 and retired from the Kent State University in 1996 after a 31-year teaching and administrative career. Dr. Doane received the first ever presentation of the Slottow-Owaki Prize for Display Education, by SID.