Kathleen Richardson ’82, MS ’88, PhD ’92 receives prestigious ICG President’s Award
Alfred University alumna Kathleen Richardson, ’82, MS ’88, PhD ’92, was named recipient of the International Congress on Glass (ICG) President’s Award for 2025.
Richardson, who earned bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in ceramic engineering and a master’s degree in glass science from Alfred University, is Pegasus Professor of Optics and Materials Science in CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and is a member of Alfred University’s Board of Trustees.
She received the ICG President’s Award at the 27th International Congress on Glass meeting held Jan. 20-23 in Kolkata, India. The theme of the ICG 2025 Congress is “Glass: A Smart and Indispensable Material for Sustainable Society” and the focus of the ICG 2025 event is on emerging technologies that can catalyze transformations in the use of glass products in various fields. The International Congress is a triennial gathering of the glass scientists and technologists.
Richardson runs the Glass Processing and Characterization Laboratory (GPCL) at UCF. She and her team of researchers carry out design, synthesis and characterization of novel glass, glass ceramic and ceramic materials for optical applications, examining the role of structure/property relationships on resulting optical function and performance in bulk, planar and fiber optical materials. Her team is a leading source of global expertise and workforce development in the design, fabrication and characterization of next generation materials for use in infrared components and systems based on diverse optical applications.
Richardson is a fellow of the SPIE, an international professional society for optics and photonics technology; the Society of Glass Technology; the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and European Ceramic Society (ECerS). She is a past winner of a number of awards, including ACerS’ Greaves-Walker Award, SPIE’s Maria J. Yzuel Outstanding Educator Award, and ACerS’ Varshneya Frontiers in Glass Science Award. She was also instrumental in organizing the United Nationals International Day of Glass Celebration held in Washington, D.C., in 2022.
The ICG President’s Award was established in 1995 to recognize outstanding lifetime contributions to the international glass community in areas such as scientific discoveries, engineering developments, artistic accomplishments leadership and communications. Others who received the ICG President’s Award during the 27th ICG meeting were Professor Lili Hu of the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Professor Edgar Dutra Zanotto of Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil, and Professor Emeritus Tsutomu Minami of Osaka Prefecture University in Japan.