MatSE alumnus to be honored by Engineering at Illinois

4/12/2016

The University of Illinois College of Engineering will honor William Payne (BS Cer ’63, MS Cer ’64) as one of its Distinguished Alumni on April 16.

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[figure="" class="align-center" width="200"]The University of Illinois College of Engineering will honor MatSE alumnus William Payne (BS Cer ’63, MS Cer ’64) as one of its Distinguished Alumni at an awards ceremony on April 16.

William Payne is an engineer, entrepreneur, angel investor and educator. He has developed seminars for angels and entrepreneurs and taught over 100 workshops and seminars on angel investing in six countries. He has contributed to the ceramics industry through his service to the American Ceramic Society, National Institute of Ceramic Engineers (NICE, and the Ceramic Foundation. He has served on a number of university advisory board and has served as Entrepreneur in Residence at universities, bringing his knowledge of investing and start-up companies to college students. In 1971 he co-founded Solid State Dielectrics, Inc. to manufacture dielectric powders for the multilayer ceramic capacitor business. He sold the company to DuPont in 1982; the business is now integrated into Ferro Corporation with revenues estimated at $20 million annually.

Payne's honors include the John F. McMahon Award from Alfred University (1990), Hans Severiens Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions to Angel Investing (2009), and the New Zealand Arch Angel Award, for his impact on angel investing in New Zealand (2010). He is a Fellow and Distinguished Life Member of the American Ceramic Society.


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This story was published April 12, 2016.