Paul J. Toscano

Paul J. Toscano has been a caring, dedicated and extremely effective teacher and mentor since he joined the Department of Chemistry in 1985. From large freshman chemistry lectures, labs, discussion sessions and honors tutorials (that he developed) to upper division and graduate courses, he has covered the range of courses taught.

As a skilled teacher, Toscano has mastered the art of presenting material to students from a variety of majors in a clear and cogent fashion. He is known for being thoroughly prepared for class, for spending hours in the library reading the latest literature and updating the materials he uses. One of his goals is the development of interactive programs and Websites for all his courses.

Toscano is known for being extremely accessible to students through extensive office hours. He is also famously unselfish in the expenditure of time and effort that his supervision of research students represents.

An important influence in the training of young researchers, Toscano has served on more than 60 graduate committees and has supervised four graduate and 16 undergraduate research students, most of whom have gone on to productive careers in graduate schools or in the profession.

In addition to acting as an adviser, Toscano has served on many committees impacting the educational mission of the department, including the Undergraduate Studies Committee, General Chemistry Committee, Graduate Studies Committee, and Graduate Admissions Committee. He has also devoted many hours to the project to renovate the chemistry labs.

A specialist in organometallic and coordination chemistry, including the study of silicon carbide and metallic copper films, Toscano is the author of more than 50 research articles, as well as abstracts and other presentations of his work. His research has won 17 grants, including support from industry (IBM, Sematech, Planar Systems, BOC Inc.), the Petroleum Research Fund, the Army Research Office, and the National Science Foundation.


Excellence Awards       University at Albany