Dennis J. Jakiela, Ph.D. is an organic chemist and Senior Patent Agent at Cantor Colburn LLP, an intellectual property law firm. Dennis earned a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Stony Brook University and a B.S. in Chemistry, Cum Laude, from Wesleyan University. Dennis drafts and prosecutes patent applications to protect emerging new technologies in the fields of chemistry, polymers, coatings, material science, agrochemicals, and biotechnology. Prior to this, Dennis was a Principal Research Scientist at Cytec, now part of Solvay. Dennis is an inventor on thirteen patents and joined the Cytec Circle of Excellence for Research & Development in 1998. Dennis has been active in the New Haven Local Section since 2003, serving as Chair (2009), Program Chair (2005-2008), Alternate Councilor 2019-2020, and most recently Councilor (2021-present). Dennis has also led the judging teams and managed sponsorship for the ACS New Haven Student Research Symposium since 2017. Dennis organized and presided over technical sessions on biomedical engineering at NERM 2022 in Rochester, and on intellectual property strategies at NERM 2023 at Northeastern University. Dennis also serves on the executive board of Capital Classics Theatre Company, which puts on the annual Greater Hartford Shakespeare Festival every July at St. Joseph University in West Hartford.

Chair-Elect: Rosa Hainaj

Rosa E. Rivera-Hainaj, Ph.D. is the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT. She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University and her B.S. in Chemistry, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez. As faculty, she has taught chemistry and its subdisciplines and mentored students in undergraduate research; she has published her research in various journals; provided professional development to K-12 teachers; and presented her accomplishments at numerous conferences and forums around the world. She has a successful record in fundraising via grants or donations, received various leadership honors, and mentored others both professionally and personally.

Treasurer: Steven Fine

Stephen Fine, Ph.D. has been a member of the New Haven Section of the ACS for 37 years. He is a past Chair, past Program Chair, and past Alternate Councilor. He held these positions in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. He retired from LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL in Bethany where his last position was Manager for R&D Services. LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL manufactures construction chemicals. He worked for LATICRETE INTERNATIONAL for 35 years, starting as a bench chemist and ending his career as a group manager. He was Secretary/Treasurer for Materials & Methods Association (an industry standards writing organization) for about 15 years. He is married to a retired middle school science teacher and has three grown children/step-children.

Councilor: Stephen Arpie

Stephen Arpie, M.S., has been working as a Director General at Absolute Standards for 18 years. Absolute Standards. Stephen has been involved with the ACS-New Haven Section for many years and regularly serves in the judging panel at the ACS-New Haven Student Research Symposiums. Stephen is currently an Alternate Councilor in the E-Board.

Alternate Councilor: Paul Aikpokpodion

Paul Ehimare AIKPOKPODION, Ph.D. is an Analytical/Environmental Chemist. He earned a PhD in Environmental Chemistry, M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry, Post graduate Diploma in Industrial Chemistry from the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria and a BS in Pure Chemistry from Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. He had training in Geographical Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing and Global Satellite Navigation System (GNSS) at the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. Prior to his joining the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station as a Postdoctoral Agricultural Scientist, he worked at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria as a Research Scientist. His research interest include Pesticides use and impacts on food and environment, heavy metal contamination and soil remediation, surface and colloid chemistry, remote sensing in precision agriculture, nanofertilizers. As a licensed chemical laboratory analyst in Nigeria, has handled European Union Project in Nigeria on human capital development in training laboratory analysts. He takes undergraduate chemistry courses in the University as a lecturer. As a Scientist in a Federal Government Research Institution in Nigeria, he has attended several Scientific Conferences in different countries where he made oral presentations of his research findings. He has several Research publications in Peer Reviewed Journals across the globe.

Member-At-Large: Bill Cesario

William (Bill) Cesario, has been a member of ACS for 35 years, initially joining because he was a consultant with a small CT new product/new business consulting firm, many of whose clients were major US/EU chemical and/or materials companies. Bill found that accessing past issues of C&E News and ACS’s proprietary materials, was very helpful in rapidly “getting up to speed,” in a client’s industry sector and its competitors. Often, such an industry scan would uncover activities, of which his client was unaware. He continued his ACS membership, following his exit from that company, because he found C&E News a valuable source of information about an industry, that is critical to mankind’s moving forward. He enjoys attending meetings, interacting with members and speakers, and having continued access to ACS’s proprietary resources.

Member-At-Large: Mark Burford

Mark Burford, Ph.D. manages the Applied Measurement Science and Central Stability groups atUnilever’s Personal Care and Foods R&D facility in Trumbull, CT. He has a BSc in Chemistry from Kingston University, UK, a MSc in Forensic Science from Strathclyde University, UK, a PhD in Analytical Chemistry focusing on GC/MS and chemometrics from Loughborough University, UK, a post Doc on supercritical fluid extraction at the University of North Dakota, US, and a research position on metal chelate chemistry sponsored by British Nuclear Fuel at the University of Leeds, UK. He was the Chairman of the Royal Society of Chemistry Northwest Region Analytical Division back in 2001 and has over 21 years’ industrial experience in Personal Care and Foods, supporting problem solving, specifications, environmental analysis, manufacturing and regulatory compliance.