HESBURGH LECTURE SERIES 2013 Program - Alumni Association ...

Anthony M. Trozzolo, Ph.D.
Huisking Professor Emeritus, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Biography
Anthony M. Trozzolo is the Charles L. Huisking Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the
University of Notre Dame. He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the Illinois Institute
of Technology in 1950, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago in 1957 and
1960, respectively. In 1959, he became a member of the technical staff at the Bell Telephone
Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., where he remained until 1957 when he became the first
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Charles L. Huisking Professor at Notre Dame. He has published more than 90 articles, has been
issued 31 U.S. and foreign patents, and is a noted lecturer around the world.
Notre Dame, Science
Trozzolo has served as visiting professor and invited guest at preeminent universities
worldwide. He was the founder and first chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Organic
Photochemistry in 1964, and served as chair of the Section of Chemical Sciences of the New
York Academy of Sciences in 1969 and 1970, receiving the Gregory and Freda Halpern Award in Photochemistry from the
Academy in 1980.
Trozzolo’s research interests have been primarily in the creation and detection of reactive intermediates. The methodology often
involves low-temperature photochemistry or solid-state photochemistry. The detection techniques include electron paramagnetic
resonance (e.p.r.) spectroscopy, laser spectroscopy, and optical spectroscopy. In addition, Trozzolo has conducted research in
the following fields: photostabilization of polymers, dye lasers, singlet molecular oxygen, charge-transfer complexes, molecular
magnets, and superconducting intercalation complexes.
Trozzolo is an elected fellow of the American Institute of Chemists (1962), the American Association for the Advancement of
Science (1963), the New York Academy of Sciences (1967), and the Inter-American Photochemical Society (2000). He also has
been an active member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and has served as national counselor for both the North Jersey
Section (1968-1973) and the Division of Organic Chemistry (1973-1979). He served as chair of the St. Joseph Valley Section
(1979), as a member of the ACS Joint Board-Council Committee on Chemistry and Public Affairs (1975-1978), as associate editor
of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (1975-76), as editor of Chemical Reviews (1977-84), and as a member of the
Editorial Advisory Board of Accounts of Chemical Research (1977-85). In 1988, Trozzolo was elected to the Board of Trustees
of the Gordon Research Conferences. He received the UNICO National Marconi Science Award in 2008 and the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2009. In recent years, Trozzolo developed and presented a new
course for non-science majors titled Seeing the Light in Science, where the focus is on the many facets of light in everyday
phenomena. Trozzolo also served as assistant dean of the College of Science at Notre Dame (1993-98), and currently is a member
of the Faculty Senate, representing the emeriti. In 2010, he became the first octogenarian senator in the Faculty Senate. He
was elected a Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2011 and was selected as a Distinguished Alumnus for Professional
Achievement by the University of Chicago in 2012.
Lecture
A Serendipitous Route to the Golden Dome
Accidental quirks in science often lead to significant discoveries and inventions, such as penicillin and the transistor. This lecture
presents some examples of serendipity in the author’s career and research, which ultimately led to Notre Dame and the “Rudy
game.” An attempt will be made to offer guidelines for exploiting the role of serendipity in science.
The Hesburgh Lecture Series, 2013 Program 95