
David Laviska, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
(973) 761-9031
Email
David Laviska, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
After spending the first decade of my professional life working as an analytical chemist with the U.S. EPA, I returned to graduate school at Rutgers University and studied organometallic chemistry and catalysis with Alan S. Goldman. After graduating in 2013, I started my academic career by teaching in full-time visiting positions at several excellent institutions, and then joined Seton Hall in 2017.
I am currently teaching General Chemistry and helping our first-year students build a solid foundation for their future studies in the STEM disciplines. As a committed advocate for diversity in the sciences, I work to ensure that students from underrepresented groups are supported and made aware of institutional resources that will help them succeed.
My research interests include several applications utilizing late transition metal complexes: hetero- and homogeneous catalysis, synthesis of new materials with unique optical properties, and small molecule activation. In addition, as a member of the Center for Applied Catalysis and Green Chemistry, I value the concepts of sustainability and environmental stewardship. Accordingly, the principles of green chemistry are applied across all the projects in my laboratory. Several of my enthusiastic undergraduate researchers are working on developing and piloting green(er) experimental methods for both undergraduate course curricula and applied research.
Education
- Ph.D., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
- M.S., University of Washington, Seattle, WA
- B.A., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Scholarship
- Laviska, David A.; Zhou, Tian; Emge, Thomas J.; Krogh-Jespersen, Karsten; Goldman, Alan S. Single and Double C-H Activation of Biphenyl and Phenanthrene: An Example of C-H Addition to Ir(III) more Facile than Addition to Ir(I). Organometallics, 2016, 35, 1613-1623.
- Laviska, David A.; Guan, Changjian; Emge, Thomas J.; Wilklow-Marnell, Miles; Brennessel, William W.; Jones, William D.; Krogh-Jespersen, Karsten; Goldman, Alan S. Addition of C-C and C-H bonds by pincer-iridium complexes: a combined experimental and computational study. Dalton Trans. (special edition in honor of William Kaska), 2014, 43, 16354-16365.
- Laviska, David A.; Field, Kathleen D.; Sparks, Sarah M.; Goldman, Alan S. The LEEDAR program: Learning Enhanced through Experimental Design and Analysis with Rutgers. ACS Symposium Series v. 1177; Service Learning and Environmental Chemistry: Relevant Connections; Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 209-228.
Accomplishments
- Visiting Scientist: Rutgers University, 2015 – present
- Online Research Discussions of Methods in Organometallic Catalysis (ORDMOC); Founding member since 2013
- Co-creator of "Magic Molecules" exhibit at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ; original installation in 2012
- Co-creator and director of the LEEDAR program (Learning Enhanced through Experimental Design and Analysis with Rutgers) for community outreach; 2006-13
- American Chemical Society; Member since 2008
- Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis (CENTC) - National Science Foundation Center for Chemical Innovation; Graduate student member 2005-13
- AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement with Science (nomination), 2013
- Rutgers Chemistry Award for Excellence in Leadership and Service, 2011
- American Chemical Society - Hach Foundation Teaching Scholarship, Rutgers University, 2008
- Rieman Award for Excellence in Teaching, Rutgers University, 2007
- Analytical Chemist: Response, Environmental, and Analytical Contract (REAC), U.S. EPA, 1996-2005