Toward 2010
The university looks toward its 100th anniversary with insights developed by the Centennial Commission, a group of top alumni, business and civic leaders engaged to address Kent State's opportunities to build a bright future.  

1998
The Moulton Hall Learning Technologies Center is dedicated, providing Kent State students with dynamic educational opportunities.

1995
The university establishes the Office of Distributed Learning, whose pilot program is aimed at developing educational innovations to change forever the way Kent State's teachers teach and its students learn.

1994
Kent State joins the ranks of the nation's top institutions of higher learning when it receives a Research University II designation from the prestigious Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 2000, the foundation revamps its classification system, and Kent State earns status as a Doctoral/Research University - Extensive, one of just 90 public research institutions nationwide in this category.

1991
Inaugurated as the 10th president of Kent State University, Carol A. Cartwright becomes the first woman to serve as president of a state university in Ohio. Five years later, Cartwright is inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame, one of many honors she has received during her tenure at Kent.

1983
The Shannon Rodgers and Jerry Silverman School of Fashion Design and Merchandising and the Kent State University Museum are established.

1972
The Center for Pan-African Culture is founded by Black United Students. The university responds in 1976 by creating the Department of Pan-African Studies, an academic program structured to provide in-depth study of African cultures, as well as exposure to important issues facing African Americans.

1970
Four Kent State University students are killed and nine wounded on May 4, 1970, during a demonstration protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. The Center for Peaceful Change, now the Center for Applied Conflict Management, was established one year later as a living memorial to these students.

1965
Chemistry professor Glenn H. Brown establishes the Liquid Crystal Institute. Two years later, an institute scientist invents the nematic liquid crystal twist cell, which paved the way for liquid crystal display technologies, first used in wristwatches and calculators and now prevalent in a wide range of electronic products.

1961
A grounds superintendent brings 10 black squirrels from London, Ontario, to the Kent Campus, where the "naturalized" denizens are now annually celebrated in the Black Squirrel Festival.

1950
The Federal Communications Commission grants Kent State University a construction permit for WKSU-FM, which signs on the air for five hours a day at 10 watts and a frequency of 88.7.Today, WKSU broadcasts at 89.7 FM, providing Northeast Ohio with its award-winning blend of in-depth news, National Public Radio programming and classical and folk music.

1947
Upon joining Kent State's Department of Sociology, university alumnus Dr.Oscar Ritchie becomes the first African American appointed to a faculty position at any state university in Ohio.

1935
Ohio Governor Martin L. Davey, a Kent native, signs a bill elevating Kent State Normal College to university status, creating a graduate degree program and instituting a College of Business Administration. At this time, the institution officially becomes known as Kent State University.

1912
President John E. McGilvrey launches Ohio's first program of extension courses establishing 20 Kent Normal School Extension Centers throughout Northeast Ohio. These centers were the predecessors to Kent State's Regional Campus network, which today encompasses seven campuses.

1911
Kent State's first president, John E. McGilvrey, establishes the Kent Alumni Association. Today, the former home of university presidents houses the Kent State Alumni Association, thanks to the generous gift from Kent State graduates John Williamson, '45, and his wife, Helen, '45, which created the Williamson Alumni Center in 1990.

1910
State Representative John Lowry's bill establishing Kent State Normal School is signed into law. A private land gift from William S. Kent, grandson of the founder of the city of Kent, creates the core campus. The school is later renamed Kent State Normal College, then Kent State College when it is authorized to grant bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in addition to its bachelor of science in education degree.