Meet Ovidiu Toma

CLUB: Kiwanis Club of Iasi, Romania

COMMUNITY LEADER: As a professor in the department of biochemistry-genetics-microbiology at “Alexandru Iona Cuza,” the University of Iasi, Romania, Ovidiu has been instrumental in building a “community” of students and faculty from Iasi and around Moldavia known as the Regional Consortium for Environment Monitoring and Protection. Simply stated, the consortium gives students the opportunity to meet and work with faculty and academics from 14 education and research institutions, helping students make better-informed choices for their careers.

In addition to the professional setting, the community also gives students the chance to meet with these mentors in social settings, where they learn about different cultures and become more well-rounded.

A LOOK AHEAD: “For the future,” Ovidiu says, “my intention is to widen the cooperation of our university consortium with the Romanian branch of the Balkan Environmental Association and, together with other international bodies, find further financial support with a view to offer more and more students better motivation and opportunities to involve (themselves) in our joint projects.”

A VITAL CURRICULUM VITAE: Ovidiu began his career in 1984 as a chemist at the Factory of Antibiotics in Iasi. Since then he has published more than 85 research papers, 25 of which were published outside Romania. He holds memberships in several professional organizations and has garnered a number of international prizes for his work, which include being named a laureate of the Academy for Sciences of the Moldavian Republic in 1994 for his work in biology and chemistry, and being named one of the “Outstanding People of the Twentieth Century” by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England.

WHY KIWANIS? “I chose Kiwanis because the goal of this club is the noblest of the world: to serve the children of the world. Children, in my opinion, represent the innocent, sublime, intelligent, and creative forces that will guide the future of the planet, and the joy and peace of humanity.”