Christopher Ciolli
I am an organic chemist in Process Chemistry at Ricerca Biosciences in Concord, Ohio. In 1999, I received a B.S. in Chemistry from Youngstown State University (YSU) in Youngstown, Ohio. I went on to receive a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004.
My involvement in the ACS began as a Student Affiliate at YSU. While at YSU, I was ACS Student Affiliates President from 1997 to 1999. My involvement in the ACS increased during my graduate career through participation in efforts to help improve graduate education. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, fellow graduate student Jason Pontrello and I founded the Lincoln Seminar Series, a graduate student research seminar series. My involvement in this series led to my invitation to an ACS YCC Leadership Development Workshop in 2003. The leadership skills developed at this workshop continue to help me as I establish my career in industry. I was also selected as a graduate student member on the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate Committee within the Wisconsin Department of Chemistry. The collection of these experiences led to my being selected by the YCC as the founding graduate student member of the ACS Graduate Education Advisory Board (GEAB).
I continued to serve on the GEAB after graduation during my first two years at Abbott Laboratories. I also wrote an article for the Graduate Education Newsletter describing my transition (“Transition from Graduate School to Industrial Employment” Ciolli, C.J. Graduate Education Newsletter 2007, 6 (1), 13 - 14). Most recently, I was appointed as an Associate to the YCC.
The ACS has provided many valuable tools to aid my transition from graduate school to industrial employment. I look forward to assisting in the career development of other ACS members through the services from which I have greatly benefited.