I have been in love with science since I read my first science fiction book by Jules Verne at the age of 6 years old. My favorite authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clark, Robert Heinlein, and Edgar Rice Burroughs soon captivated my attention for hours at a time. By the time I was 12 years old, I owned a collection of over 100 paperback sci-fi novels. In 1969, I entered the Bronx High School of Science, and I became part of a cohort of elite science students. From there my family moved to Brooklyn, New York and I enrolled in the fall of 1973 at Brooklyn College. When free tuition ended in 1976, I left school to become an analytical technician at Lever Brothers Research center in Edgewater, New Jersey. After two years of night school, where I took math classes in advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Abstract Algebra, I returned full time to Brooklyn College and graduated in 1979 with a B.S. in Chemistry. At Brooklyn College, I learned to program with BASIC and Fortran.
I entered graduate school at Stony Brook University and completed an MS Degree. The title of my Masters’s thesis is “Electron transfer reactions of dicyanobisbipyridylFe(III)/Co(II)EDTA”. I transferred to the University of Virginia in 1982 and worked in the laboratory of Professor James Demas for 6 years. I taught electronics, computer interfacing, and physical chemistry, and completed my Ph.D. thesis “Excited-state reactions of transition metal complexes with Ru/Os/Ir polypyridyl complexes”.
In 1988 I wrote my thesis, I was married to my wife, Ines, and I was hired at Westwood Chemical Corporation as a Senior Chemist in Middletown, New York. I worked there for 11 years in the formulation of cosmetic products. In 1999 I took a position as a Project Scientist at Carter Wallace, where I worked on antiperspirants and depilatories. In 2001, I moved to CB Fleet in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I was employed for 17 years. I worked in Spain for 3 months on a project to develop Oral Rehydration powder and traveled to Canada to make an ORS drink. I traveled to England to make a Gummy Bear Supplement.
In 2008 I completed an MBA at the University of Lynchburg. Over the years, I have worked on the formulation of many types of health and beauty care products, with 10 patents. In Middletown, I first heard about Toastmasters International, an organization for people who want to improve their communication and leadership skills. I have been a member for 30 years in many Toastmasters clubs. I am a Distinguished Toastmaster and serve as the current president of the Lynchburg Toastmasters club.
While in Middletown, I worked on weekends as a tour guide at the Brotherhood Winery, the oldest winery in America. Public speaking and wine tasting are my hobbies. While I was in Middletown, I taught Chemistry in the evenings as an adjunct professor for two years at OCCC.
Since 2013, I have worked as an adjunct at Central Virginia Community College, where I have taught Chemistry 111/112. I have used my knowledge in Chemistry to help my students gain knowledge and experience that will make them successful in their scientific field. Last fall, I became a full-time instructor. In the last year, I have created and improved the Chemistry course on CANVAS. I am also a student here at CVCC, taking classes in microbiology and genetics. From my experience as a teacher and a student here at CVCC, I can attest to the quality of the STEM program and the excellent professors that are working here to educate our students. My son, Daniel, was a student in my Chemistry class in 2013. He graduated from CVCC in 2016 and transferred to Virginia Tech, where he graduated in 2019 with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was able to secure a position working at Tessy Plastics, where he is enjoying his time working in the quality and project management departments. Daniel would tell you that his time here at CVCC gave him a strong background to help him to succeed. My daughter, Kristina, works at Stroobants Heart Clinic and is mother to Naomi, our granddaughter. I am a member of St. Thomas More Catholic Church, where I attend mass regularly.
