Jason D. Hofstein

I earned my B.E. in chemical engineering from the Cooper Union in 1993, and from there went on to Stony Brook University, where I earned a Ph. D. in chemical physics in 1999.  After a year as an editor at the Americal Physical Society, I took a position as the Director of Intermediate Chemistry Laboratories at Stony Brook University.  In 2003, I was offered a position as a visiting professor of chemistry at Siena College, and I am now an associate professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department.

My Siena Experience

My Teaching Philosophy

One of my professional goals is to spark my student's interest in science by using various mechanisms and approaches. Today science plays a central role in solving many of our current problems, including energy and environmental concerns. I have found students respond well to principles that are presented in the course from a perspective applicable to modern society or to their field of interest. Relating difficult thermodynamic or quantum mechanical principles to recent movies they may have seen, or video games they might play, are useful in bringing concepts home.

What I Love About Siena

Being a professor at Siena College provides me with the awesome opportunity to instruct students and help them develop the skills they will use based on their wants and needs. I consider it a responsibility to show any of my students, regardless of their major, that understanding chemistry and science is within their reach.  This makes my role as a teacher rewarding as well as a very exciting challenge.

My Favorite Courses to Teach

• CHEM 310:  Thermodynamics and Chemical Equilibrium (Lecture)
• CHEM 100/FCSE 100:  Introduction to Forensic Science (Lecture)
• CHEM 105/FCSE 105:  Criminalistics (Lecture and Laboratory)
• CHEM 226:  Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (Laboratory)
• CHEM 320: Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy (Lecture)
• CHEM 110/120 lab: General Chemistry Laboratory I and II (Laboratory)

My Professional Experience

Current Research

• Analytical techniques of gunshot residue detection and classification
• Forensic science course development
• Thermodynamics of hydrogen bonding in aprotic solutions
• Simple pulsed dye lasers for undergraduate research 
• Analytical chemistry laboratory development

Articles & Book Reviews

• The fate of excited stated in jet-cooled aromatic molecules: Bifurcating pathways and very long-lived species from the S1 excitation of phenylacetylene and benzonitrile
  Journal of Phys. Chem
  2008
• MATI and PIRI spectroscopy of the X and A state of trans-1, 3-butadiene cation
  Chemical Physics Letters
  2000
• Reassessing the orbitals of pi systems using photoinduced Rydberg ionization spectroscopy
  Journal of Electron Spectrosc.
  2000
• A comparative investigation of Rydberg state survival in several molecules using Mass Analyzed Threshold Ionization
  Chemical Physics Letters
  1999
• Assignment of the B+ state of the chlorobenzene cation using photoionization Rydberg ionization (PIRI) spectroscopy
  Journal of Phys. Chem
  1999
• The observation of strong pseudo-Jahn-Teller activity in the benzene cation (B 2E2g) state
  Journal of Phys. Chem
  1997

Awards & Distinctions

• GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education
  Category: Other
  GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education, 1996
• GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education
  Category: Other
  GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education, 1995
• GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education
  Category: Other
  GAANN Fellowship from the Department of Education, 1994