William LaCourse, emeritus professor of glass science engineering in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, delivered the first annual Varshneya Lecture on Glass Thursday morning, Oct. 16.
William LaCourse, emeritus professor of glass science engineering in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, delivered the first annual Varshneya Lecture on Glass Thursday morning, Oct. 16.
The Varshneya Lecture on Glass was established in 2025 by Arun (emeritus professor of glass science engineering) and Darshana Varshneya to celebrate 30 years of Arun Varshneya’s teaching and research contributions to glass engineering science in the School of Engineering at Alfred University.
LaCourse’s lecture was titled “Old Dog — New Tricks.” He discussed new developments in glass art, engineering and science which he described as “magical,” and which have led individuals, companies, countries, and international organizations to declare we are living in the “Glass Age.” The presentation included an in-depth discussion of how and why the importance of glass has reached such a level. It answered the questions, What magic already exists? What might one expect in the near future? Why does Alfred University have reason to look forward with great anticipation?
The Varshneya Lecture on Glass was endowed by Arun Varshneya and his wife, Darshana, in June. In addition to funding the Varshneya Conference on Glass, their gift supports the University Conference on Glass, a biennial conference which is hosted on a rotational basis by four institutions: Alfred University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Pennsylvania State University. Funding will support the Varshneya-University Conference on Glass at all four host institutions.
William LaCourse (center), emeritus professor of glass science engineering at Alfred University, gave the inaugural Varshneya Lecture on Glass. He is shown here with Gabrielle Gaustad ’04, dean of Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, and Arun Varshneya, emeritus professor of glass science engineering at Alfred University. A gift from Arun Varshneya and his wife, Darshana, supports the lecture.
LaCourse received a B.S. in Engineering Science (1966) and a M.S. in Materials Engineering (1967) from SUNY Stony Brook, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1970). In 1970, after a post-doctoral research position at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., LaCourse joined Harrie Stevens and David Pye in the Glass Engineering Department at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
He has served as Kruson Distinguished Professor of Glass Science, and as assistant director and director of the National Science Foundation-funded University-Industry Center for Glass Research. After a successful proposal that funded $1,000,000 grant for a new M.S. Degree program in Biomedical Materials Engineering—obtained from the Whitiker Foundation with co-principal investigator, Alexis Clare, emerita professor of glass science engineering— LaCourse served as Chair of the Biomedical Materials Engineering Department. He also served three-and-a-half years as Interim SUNY Unit Head for the NYS College of Ceramics.
During his career LaCourse authored or co-authored more than 100 publications, invented or co-invented 12 patents in bio-glass, amorphous metals, and chemical strengthening, and generated more than $2,500,000 in external funding. He co-founded Saxon Glass Technologies, with Arun Varshneya, and later founded Santanoni Glass and Ceramics, the creator of “HercuGlass”, an “almost unbreakable”, chemically strengthened glass.
LaCourse has received several awards from Alfred University and SUNY, including the Kruson Award for Outstanding Service to Alfred University, the McMahon Teaching Award, the Alfred University Outstanding Teacher Award, The SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Teaching and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Research. He was declared an Honorary Alfred University Alumnus in 1991. LaCourse has been a member the American Ceramic Society since 1970, is a Fellow of the Society and received the 2007 George W. Morey Award for Research on glass fibers. He retired from classroom teaching in 2021 but is an active advisor and researcher. He is currently co-principal investigator on research projects, including “Waste Glass as a Fertilizer and for Enhanced Plant Growth.”
Arun Varshneya’s teaching and research career at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University spanned from 1982 to 2010. During his tenure, Varshneya taught nearly every course in glass science and engineering at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His notable former students include Alfred University alumnus John Mauro ’01, ’06 PhD, Dorothy Pate Enright Professor and head of the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Pennsylvania State University; A.N. Sreeram ’91 M.S., senior vice president and chief technology officer of Dow Chemical, and a member of the Alfred University Board of Trustees; Robert Callahan ’89 M.S., partner, Global Infrastructure Partners; and Jeetendra Sehgal ’88 M.S., president, Business R&D, Borosil Glass (India).
Varshneya is a Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology and a President’s Award recipient for lifetime achievement by the International Commission on Glass. He is also the president of Saxon Glass Technologies, Inc., a business he co-founded in 1996 in the Alfred’s Innovation Center to provide chemical strengthening service for glass. Its flagship product is the chemically strengthened Type-1 borosilicate glass cartridge that is incorporated in every EpiPen® autoinjector to combat anaphylaxis shock due to severe allergies to peanuts, bee-stings, shell foods and other allergens.
