Jeffrey Toney
Kean University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard University
For notable accomplishments, being a strong proponent of scientific achievement, being an advocate for Sigma Xi's mission, and advancing efforts in science and human rights.
Quote
"I joined Sigma Xi in 1981 as a life member when I was an undergraduate senior at the University of Virginia (UVA). The department of chemistry at UVA offered me several deeply engaging and rewarding research opportunities, including working in the laboratories of Professors Ralph O. Allen and James N. Demas. I will never forget when Professor Demas informed me that our project to develop a low frequency computerized lock-in amplifier led to a publication in the Review of Scientific Instruments and that I was a co-author. When I began graduate study the following year at Northwestern University, my doctoral dissertation mentor Professor Tobin J. Marks encouraged me to apply for a Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research award. Because of Sigma Xi’s support, I was able to attend and present research at my first national meeting of the American Chemical Society, held in Anaheim, California, a transformational experience.
Throughout my undergraduate and graduate years, I regularly attended Sigma Xi chapter meetings and attended sponsored seminars. I have been an avid reader of American Scientist and was inspired by numerous feature articles to develop skills in science communication for the general public. I am honored to have served as Sigma Xi’s representative on the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Coalition since 2009, dedicated to promoting strategies for scientists and engineers to contribute to human rights issues globally. Sigma Xi’s recent #SciCommMake initiative, that supports collaboration of scientists and artists to develop science communication projects, inspired me to work with musicians, videographers, audio engineers and professional actors. Dr. Stephanie Ishack, a physician scientist, and I produced and directed a video, “COVID-19 Doesn’t Care” about confusing messaging during the pandemic and the importance of reliable scientific information, for which we won a People’s Choice Award in 2020."
Biography
Jeffrey H. Toney obtained a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Virginia (with distinction) and master's and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Northwestern University. His doctoral thesis advisor was Professor Tobin J. Marks. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, mentored by Professors William A. Haseltine and W. David Henner. He also served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), supported by a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, mentored by Professor Stephen J. Lippard. As a senior research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories, he developed assays for drug discovery in the areas of type II diabetes and antibiotic resistance.
Toney was appointed Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer in 2013 and is currently Senior Vice President for Research at Kean University. In June 2019, he was named as a visiting professor at MIT in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, pursuing research in the philosophy and history of science. In this role, he has established a new Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program project at MIT utilizing culture, gender and language to enhance undergraduate education as a new model to enhance diversity, equity and opportunity in higher education. He also serves as a collaborator on the MIT Haiti Initiative, founded by Professor Michel DeGraff, that develops educational resources for the STEM fields in Kreyòl. In June 2020, he was named as a Visiting Scholar in the department of the History of Science at Harvard University. He continues to serve concurrently in both positions at MIT and at Harvard while serving as Senior Vice President of Research at Kean University. He has served as Sigma Xi’s representative on the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Coalition since 2009 and is a member of the Advisory Board for SurgiBox, an MIT-D Lab initiative.
He received a #SciCommMake award in 2020 from Sigma Xi, and Science Talk, for his work in science communication. He recently joined the Consortium of Scientists for Pandemic Preparedness as Group co-lead of the Education and Outreach working group. His scientific work is widely cited in the scholarly literature and he holds six United States patents. He has given invited seminars at academic and professional conferences at Harvard University, Yale University, MIT, George Washington University, University of Virginia, and at AAAS, among others. His opinion pieces have been widely published in The Huffington Post, The New York Times, and in The Hill. His fiction writing has been published in literary outlets, for which he has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. He is a proud father of two children, Nathaniel and Gabrielle.