Kevin Belfield received the B.S. degree in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology, the Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Syracuse University, and performed postdoctoral research at SUNY College of Environmental and Forestry and at Harvard University. While at Harvard University he was a member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Center for Science and International Affairs. After faculty positions at the University of Detroit Mercy and the University of Central Florida, including 10 years as Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Belfield joined NJIT as Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Science in November 2014.
In addition, he is the Becton Dickinson Endowed Research Professor at NJIT. Belfield was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013 and Fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2019.
Belfield is a pioneer in multiphoton photochemistry and photonic materials, with over 250 publications, and research interests ranging from developing contrast agents for early detection of cancer and neurological diseases, development of novel non-viral gene delivery vectors, new paradigms for photodynamic cancer therapy, and high-density 3D optical data storage. Belfield led the development of a number of intriguing new interdisciplinary degree programs at NJIT, including Cell and Gene Therapy Sciences, Forensic Science, and Cyberpsychology.
He also helped found the Newark Math Success Initiative (MSI), part of a program to increase the enrollment of Newark high school graduates at NJIT by through a partnership among NJIT, the City of Newark’s Office of the Mayor, and the Newark Board of Education (NBOE) to provide direct mathematics instruction and support to rising 12th graders and mathematics certified teachers.