The University of Ottawa owes much of its stature to the excellence of its professors. Among uOttawa’s research leaders is Professor J.C. (Tito) Scaiano, who continually contributes to fruitful research and collaborations in the area of applied photochemistry. He has received numerous awards and honours throughout his career, including but not limited to, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal in Science and Engineering (2002), induction as an Officer of the Order of Canada (2006), the Förster Prize of the German Chemical Society (2012), the James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (2016), and most recently, the 2020 Nicholas J. Turro Award of the Inter-American Photochemical Society.
In 2017, the Nicholas J. Turro award was created to acknowledge innovative contributions to the field of photochemical sciences that transformed thinking or led to meaningful development of the field. It is awarded every two years to experienced researchers who have made valuable scientific progress and have mentored the next generation of photochemistry researchers for at least 20 years. Professor Scaiano was selected as the 2020 recipient in recognition of his groundbreaking contributions to organic photochemistry, to chemistry of short-lived reaction intermediates, and for applying this knowledge to create new models for the synthesis and use of novel nanomaterials.
Professor Scaiano accepted the Nicholas J. Turro Award with great pleasure. He shared through social media that “Nick and I were good friends and co-authored two books, which makes it a very special honour. Even more special, I will receive it on my birthday.”
In addition to conducting research in organic photochemistry, nanomaterials and catalysis, Prof. Scaiano mentors and guides the numerous graduate students of the Scaiano Group in their research projects and career aspirations. He is also the Director of the uOttawa Centre for Advanced Materials Research, a member of the Centre for Research in Photonics of the University of Ottawa, as well as the founder of Luzchem Research, an Ottawa-based developer and manufacturer of photochemistry instruments.
