But mainly, Binns created an atmosphere of excellence and quality in design by demonstrating that artistic enthusiasm could coincide with serious effort to improve the technology of pottery. Most glazes and bodies were compounded on the basis of these recipes, coupled with guesswork. As early as 1897, he proposed a central laboratory for ceramics research, noting that rivalry prevented pottery makers from sharing information. And early on, he tackled the problem of the disparity between training given in art schools and the rigor demanded by the crafts, still a problem today. While Ohio State University had established a ceramic engineering program in 1894, the school at Alfred was the first and for a long time the only institution to combine both ceramic art and science.
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