My Professional Biography

Biography of Bruce Slutsky

I obtained my Bachelors degree in Chemistry from the City College of New York in 1972. My research project as an undergraduate involved the photochemistry of 1,4-napthoquinone. Immediately upon graduation I enrolled in the chemistry masters program at the University of Rhode Island. During my two years there I worked as a graduate teaching assistant working in the general and organic chemistry laboratories with undergraduate students. My master’s thesis was titled “The Reaction of Aldehydes on Activated Alumina.” The following article was based on my dissertation:

Lamb, Frederick A.; Cote, Philip N.; Slutsky, Bruce; Vittimberga Bruno M. Oxidation - Reduction of 9 - (p-methoxyphenyl)-9-fluorenylacetaldehyde on activated alumina. Journal of Organic Chemistry; 1974; 39(18): 2796-7.

After I completed my master’s degree in chemistry I pursued a position as a laboratory chemist. My first position was with Rhodia in New Brunswick, NJ where I was involved with the scale-up synthesis of bulk chemicals used as perfume ingredients. I moved on to UOP Fragrances where I worked as a synthetic organic chemist. My job was to synthesize novel substances to be tested for their suitability as perfume ingredients. My third job as a chemist was with Pfizer Central Research in Groton, CT. where I synthesized substances to be tested for medicinal activity. I became very interested in searching the literature for documentation of chemical substances. I had to check the literature to see if a target compound or intermediate had already been synthesized. I became very interested in literature searching and chose to pursue it as a career path.

I pursued a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn while I worked as a Library/Information Scientist as Schering-Plough Corporation in Bloomfield, NJ. I provided an information link with laboratory, medical and regulatory personnel to support research programs of and projects by searching the biomedical and chemical literature by using online bibliographic databases offered by DIALOG or the National Library of Medicine.

My next position was with the Science and Technology Division of the New York Public Library. At this position I responded to requests for information by library patrons, phone calls, and letters. I selected books and periodicals for the collection in chemistry, chemical engineering and related disciplines. I moved up to Coordinator of Collection Development where I assigned subject and language responsibilities to the reference staff and reviewed their selection decisions. I later became Coordinator of Online Services for the division.

I moved on to St. John’s University where I was Supervisor of the Science Division. I supervised the operation of the Science Department of 1.5 FTE librarians and 2.5 FTE clerks to insure that students, faculty and other library users are able to fully meet the academic goals of the university.
For the last 16 years I have been Senior Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark. At the time I started this position in Fall 1992 libraries were rapidly moving into the “Internet era” Over the years I have authored numerous web sites which list resources in chemistry, chemical engineering, environmental science, civil engineering, and environmental engineering.