Cañada Chemistry Professor Recognized with 2014 Community College Teacher Scholar Award

 

Cañada College Chemistry Professor Jeanette Medina presents the 2014 Community College Teacher Scholar Award to Cañada College Chemistry Professor Robert Tricca.

Cañada College Chemistry Professor Robert Tricca was recently recognized by Santa Clara Valley American Chemical Society (ACS-SCV) with a Community College Teacher Scholar (CCTS) Award. The award recognizes the contributions of a community college chemistry teacher to science education.  Tricca was chosen from one of the 13 community colleges in the ACS-SCV local area that includes five counties around San Jose, CA. 

Professor Tricca received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Boston College in 1980 and his Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Chemistry from Tufts University in 1985. He started his professional career in the chemical industry where he spent a significant number of years. He has held positions at Pfizer, Oral B/Gillette, Align Technology and Oral Health Technologies ranging from bench work to upper administration and co-founder. In 2008, Tricca decided to pursue his passion for teaching. His teaching career started as an adjunct faculty at Diablo Valley College, Laney College and Cañada College. His commitment and aptitude for the job were unquestionable and only two years later, Professor Tricca assumed his current fulltime position at Cañada College. In a short period of time, Tricca has contributed to the advancement of chemical education by updating the general chemistry laboratory experiments to reflect modern relevant bench skills; establishing an ongoing undergraduate student research environment in collaboration with the National Resources Conservation Service and has continuously promoted students success by mentoring and exposing them to professional organizations and professional networking opportunities.

The sixth annual Teacher Scholar Award was presented to Professor Tricca at Mission College in Santa Clara. Tricca was nominated by his fellow Chemistry Professor Jeanette Medina. His nomination was reviewed by a separate selection committee.  The award includes a $500 stipend for the award recipient, a plaque and additional $500 for the award recipient’s department.

 
Cañada College students came to support Professor Tricca at the awards dinner: Fadi Syriani, Ari Kashaniamin, Everado "Lalo" Gomez, Jonathan Bussing and Aarohi Bhargava-Shah