Jacob Lewis/The Hofstra Chronicle

On Friday, July 1, Hofstra University appointed Charles Riordan as the new provost and senior vice president of academic affairs. Well before then, however, Riordan has shown time and again that he understands what it’s like to be part of something larger than himself.

Riordan earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the College of Holy Cross and his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago, so it goes without saying that he has dedicated himself to the sciences. From his early research days, Riordan made sure to intertwine the research he was doing with a bigger picture.

Prior to his current position at Hofstra, Riordan was the vice president of research among a variety of other positions at the University of Delaware for 25 years.

“We were really interested in understanding how we could take lessons from nature, to hopefully assess, address and solve problems that were relevant to society, to the chemical industry [and] sustainability,” Riordan said on the research that he was most proud of during his time at the University of Delaware. “We figured out a way to take oxygen out of the atmosphere and activate it to do chemical transformations that were relevant to industry, and that whole process was inspired by how enzymes from nature performed those [same] reactions. We took those design principles and applied them in a way to do something useful for the chemical industry; [turning it] from something that was less useful into something that was more useful.”

In his pursuit of knowledge, Riordan has obtained several awards, including the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award in 1994, serving as an elected fellow in the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as receiving the American Chemical Society Delaware Section Award in 2013 for his research.

Taking that experience beyond the theoretical and pedagogical, he has helped countless students over the years launch their own careers as scientists and researchers. This is where it became obvious to him that he loves teaching and helping students more than the material itself.

“There [were] a number of times when I was at the University of Delaware, particularly working with graduate students and in my chemistry lab, where you could see a time when they there were unsure themselves,” Riordan explained. “See[ing] them grow out of that, and then be successful and go on to complete their degree and go on to amazing careers, it’s just incredibly rewarding.”

Those moments of perseverance and guiding students on the meta level is what inspired Riordan to be where he is today.

“Being the provost, it’s an opportunity to have impact and to help to further the educational aspirations of students,” Riordan said. “So in some ways, I think about it as sort of a logical continuation of being a faculty member. What’s really exciting about it is allows you to have impact, in principle, on more students across the entire campus.”

His first impression of the entire student body is their sheer dedication on-campus.

“One of the things that struck me in the first week with the students is how incredibly engaged the students are,” Riordan said. “Same thing with the faculty, I mean, just really outstanding faculty that are so committed to the student experience.”

With that all said and done, it’s no secret that Riordan has a soft spot for research.

“I’m proud [of how] we [at Delaware] were able to build a research capacity and research partnerships that allowed the faculty and the students there to really excel and grow their research programs for impact,” Riordan said.

Now, he hopes students at Hofstra will look to the future with the aspiration of participating in and contributing to research for the advancement of their career, whatever it may be.

“I think one of the great ways for students to engage with whatever subject they’re involved with is via scholarly research opportunities,” Riordan said. “That’s what got me excited about the career path that I took when I was in [my] undergraduate [studies], and I’ve seen it really transform students.”

The true mark of a dedicated academic, according to Riordan? Not missing a single opportunity to learn and grow, no matter the difficulty that comes with it.

“The thing that really excites me about leaving is the opportunity to learn and to grow,” Riordan said. “I think, for me the first few months, and the fall semester in particular, [are] going to continue to be about learning and then taking that learning and applying it in ways to enhance the academic experience for all students.”