Matthew is a Professor of Chemistry and Department Chair of the Chemistry Department at PennWest University (California campus). Matthew has served in multiple elected officer positions during the last decade. In 2015, Matt served as the Secretary of the local section. After serving in this role, Matt continued to stay involved in the section and was chosen as Chair-elect during 2019. Matthew’s term as Chair was during 2020. This was an extremely challenging year to serve as Chair as there were many routine programs and events that no longer took place or were completely reimagined. During this time Matt exhibited the ability to stay very positive and keep the local section active during this extremely difficult time.
He pivoted to virtual meetings and did everything he possibly could to keep the local section vibrant. Based on Matt’s completion of the Local Section annual report for 2020, Pittsburgh was nominated for and received the ChemLuminary Award for Outstanding Performance in the Medium-Large Sized Section category in the following year (2021). After Matt completed his three-year term in the Chair succession roles, he ran and was elected to his current role as Treasurer. He started his term strong in the beginning of 2022, with updating and publishing the Warrant for processing business transactions. He also updated the codes for tracking expenses and has worked with our accountant Mark Juzwa to stay compliant with local section business practices.
He is a selfless colleague who devotes hours of time volunteering because he enjoys it, and he likes to use his skill set to help solve problems. He doesn’t do this work to be in the spotlight or to gain accolades or recognition.
This biography was provided by Kimberly Woznack of PennWest.