Jeffrey H. Toney, Ph.D., FSX
When Jeffrey H. Toney, Ph.D., FSX, Professor Emeritus and former provost of Kean University, was a student in high school he had the extraordinary opportunity to work as a paid research intern alongside the late Roscoe Owen Brady, M.D. at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President George W. Bush. That internship, which was made possible by private donor support through American University and the Katz Foundation, changed Jeffrey's life forever.
Dr. Roscoe Brady was Jeffrey's very first research mentor in the world of science. Not only did this summer internship help to propel the rest of Jeffrey's career, but it also helped to inspire him to establish an endowed fund to support paid internships for student research at Kean University. His experiments that summer resulted in his first scientific publication as co-author with Dr. Brady.
In Jeffrey's words, he wanted to "continue the virtuous circle of giving." Recognizing that the opportunity he had as a young man at the NIH was only made possible through private donor support, Jeffrey knew it was important to make more of those opportunities available to young minds.
Earlier this year, Jeffrey chose to 'pay it forward' by including a charitable bequest in his will to permanently fund paid research internships for students at Kean.
This bequest will not only permanently endow paid research internships for students at Kean, but it will also honor the legacy of Jeffrey's late father, Carl L. Toney, who passed away in 2022. More specifically, The Carl L. Toney 'Joy of Discovery' Endowed Research Fund will provide meaningful stipends to students at Kean who wish to pursue academic research and/or creative art projects in collaboration with faculty mentors at Kean University, or faculty members at doctoral, very high research activity (R1) institutions such as Princeton or Rutgers University, in partnership with Kean.
It was Jeffrey's father, Carl, who instilled in his son a deep passion for higher education, problem-solving and the 'joy of discovery,' which he said, "is at the heart of all research." Jeffrey recounts that as a young boy, his father told him that education is one of the most important things in life because it is something that you can never lose. Jeffrey has carried this with him all his life. It is the reason why he decided to make this gift in his father's memory.
Jeffrey was the first in his family to attend college. His father was born to a large family in the south and had to leave school without graduating to help work on the farm and support the family. At the age of 17, Carl enlisted in the Navy during World War II to serve his country. He was trained as an electrician and served aboard the Escort Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Solomons (CVE-67) from 1943-45. Once the war was over, Carl worked as a field engineer at IBM on several key government accounts. Carl's training and experience in the Navy, coupled with his natural ability and talent for problem-solving, prepared him for a long and successful career at IBM.
When reflecting upon his career at Kean and the legacy he hopes to leave behind, Jeffrey believes that his career could not have been possible if it weren't for caring mentors like Dr. Brady at the NIH and many others. That pivotal experience so many years ago inspired and prepared Jeffrey to pursue a lifelong career in chemistry, first as a senior research fellow at Merck Research Laboratories and then in academia as Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor of Chemistry at Montclair State University.
Jeffrey earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia, and then both his master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from Northwestern University. Upon earning his doctoral degree, Jeffrey also completed two postdoctoral research fellowships: first at Harvard Medical School and then at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
While at Kean, Jeffrey served in several key roles, most notably as provost and vice president for academic affairs. He retired from Kean University in 2022 as Professor Emeritus and is currently a visiting professor in MIT's department of linguistics and philosophy.
The Kean University Foundation is grateful for Dr. Jeffrey Toney's generous support and foresight in providing meaningful internship opportunities for students at Kean. In addition to his philanthropic support, Dr. Toney is known for mentoring students and playing a leadership role in growing student involvement in Kean Research Days, an annual campus-wide celebration of faculty-student research collaborations and creative arts projects. This event provides students the opportunity to present their research and creative art projects to the campus community at large.
In recognition of Dr. Toney's leadership in furthering student research opportunities at Kean and his long-time support of the Kean University Foundation, the first Carl L. Toney 'Joy of Discovery' Scholar will be announced in conjunction with Research Days 2024.