Arun and Darshana Varshneya endow University Conference on Glass

A gift from Arun Varshneya, Alfred University emeritus professor of glass science, and his wife, Darshana, will support the University Conference on Glass series as well as an annual lecture on glass at Alfred University.

The Varshneya Endowed Glass Fund, under the stewardship of Alfred University, will support 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 conference at all four host institutions. The conference series, established at Alfred University in 1970, will now be titled the Varshneya-University Conference on Glass.

"My global reputation originated from two sources: professorship at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and ownership of Saxon Glass Technologies, Inc.," Varshneya said. "The latter itself came about from my faculty position. At a breakfast meeting with retired faculty, I had remarked to President Zupan that I had the greatest time at Alfred. In Frank Sinatra's words, 'Regrets I had a few, but too few to remember.' It was, therefore, natural for me to think about giving back."

Alfred University hosted the 21^st annual University Conference on Glass in 2024. Undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and industry professionals took part in the conference, learning about the latest developments in glass science, technology, and education. Sessions included introductory lectures by glass experts on important glass subjects and presentations by undergraduate and graduate students of their latest research.

In addition to supporting the Varshneya-University Conference on Glass, the Varshneyas' gift will also fund the Varshneya Lecture on Glass, an annual lecture series held at Alfred University. Varshneya said he expects the lecture series to bring renowned members of the glass science community to campus, similarly to the Samuel L. Scholes Memorial Lectures series, held annually at Alfred University in April. Established in 1982, the Scholes Lecture series honors the late Samuel R. Scholes, who in 1932 established the first glass science program in the United States at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.

"The subject matter (of the Varshneya Lecture on Glass) should include all glass science, technology, and education topics, building upon the fundamentals described in my textbook," Varshneya said, referring to his book, "Fundamentals of Inorganic Glasses," which he wrote at the request of his students. Currently used as a textbook to teach glass science and technology to students worldwide, "Fundamentals of Inorganic Glasses" earned Varshneya the nickname, "The Glass Guru," globally.

Dr. Arun Varshneya is professor of glass science and engineering, emeritus, whose 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.

He taught business basics including a hypothetical business project for glass and ceramic engineers entitled, "Engineering Operations" which became the capstone course - a pioneering approach which received much admiration by accreditation boards. For this effort, he was appointed courtesy professor of entrepreneurial business administration by the College of Business at Alfred University.

Arun Varshneya, emeritus professor of glass science at Alfred University, talks during the International Congress on Glass, held in January in Kolkata, India. Varshneya was co-organizer for the five-day event, and also gave a plenary talk and provided opening and closing remarks.

Varshneya's 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). Mauro was one of the lecturers at the 2024 University Conference on Glass, hosted by Alfred University.

Varshneya is a Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society, 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., an entrepreneurship business 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, beestings, shell foods and other allergens. The strengthening effectively reduces glass failure events from around 10 percent in the unstrengthened form to next to nothing during the administration of the EpiPen®. It helped the "EpiPen" to become a household name, helping save thousands of human lives each year, while increasing its market size from a million units in 1996 to roughly 30 million units in 2019. Darshana, Varshneya's wife of 51 years, is the chief financial officer of the Company.

Arun and Darshana Varshneya currently live in Vienna, VA, near their daughters Pooja, Kajal, and Rupal.