Nicholas John Turro

Background

TURRO, Nicholas was born on May 18, 1938 in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. Son of Nicholas J. Turro and Philomena Russo.

Education

He attended graduate school at Caltech where he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree with George South. Hammond in 1963.

Career

P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude from Wesleyan University in 1960. Following a postdoctoral year at Harvard with P. Doctorate. Bartlett, he joined the faculty at Columbia University where he was the William

P. Schweitzer Professor of Chemistry.

Although he worked in many areas of chemistry, he was most well known for his work in photochemistry and spectroscopy, which he applied to studies involving small molecules in solution, interfaces, thin films, biological systems including deoxyribonucleic acid and carbohydrates, nanomaterials, supramolecular and super-duper molecular systems His success in these areas is evident by his co-authorship of over 1000 papers.

His expertise in photochemistry, spectroscopy and organic chemistry lead to a large network of international collaborators, including Fortune 500 companies such as Procter and Gamble. He authored the influential books Molecular Photochemistry published in 1965, considered the "bible" of the field for several generations by organic photochemists, and Modern Molecular Photochemistry published in 1978.

The latter was comprehensively revised as Principles of Molecular Photochemistry: An Introduction in 2008 and later as Modern Molecular Photochemistry of Organic Molecules in 2010 both of which were co-authored with V. Ramamurthy at University of Miami and J.C. Scaiano at the University of Ottawa.

Turro has been selected as one of the most highly cited chemists for the past two decades, and has published over 900 research papers.

Achievements

• He was the recipient of the 2011 Arthur C. Cope Award in Organic Chemistry, given annually "to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of organic chemistry, the significance of which has become apparent within the five years preceding the year in which the award will be considered." He was also the recipient of the 2000 Willard Gibbs Award, which recognizes "eminent chemists who..have brought to the world developments that enable everyone to live more comfortably and to understand this world better." He was a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Works

• Other Work

  • Molecular Photochemistry 1965, Modem Molecular Photochemistry 1978.

Membership

North.A.S., American Academy, of Arts and Sciences.

Interests

• Tennis, handball, reading.

Connections

Married Sandra J. Misenti in 1960.

Father:

Nicholas J. Turro

Mother:

Philomena Russo

Spouse:

Sandra J. Misenti