Dean's Message

Welcome to San José State University! You are joining a vibrant community of about 8000 fellow graduate students in more than 70 programs who have come from across the world to engage in advanced study in the heart of Silicon Valley. Graduate study, whether leading to a certificate, masters, or doctorate, is the most advanced form of formal education and often propels students from coursework-based learning to independent research, discovery, and creativity. Because of this, graduate students are at the heart of the educational and scholarly excellence that characterizes San José State University.

We at San José State University are dedicated to supporting your journey through our graduate programs and beyond. Indeed, we have recently inaugurated a new enterprise, the College of Graduate Studies, with the sole focus of supporting our graduate students and elevating the graduate experience at the university. I am honored to be serving as the inaugural dean of the College of Graduate Studies and look forward to learning how I can help enhance your educational experience. All of us in the College are at your service.

Marc d’Alarcao
Dean

• About Dean Marc d'Alarcao

  • Marc d’Alarcao was born in Lisbon, Portugal, but was raised in the United States from an early age. His family eventually settled in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, where he attended high school and subsequently received a B.S. in chemistry from Bridgewater State College. During his last two years of college he began his research career at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester where he was a research assistant in the microbiology laboratory of Professor Martin Marinus, characterizing bacteria with genetic defects in DNA methylation. From there he moved to the Midwest where he attended graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying in the laboratory of Professor Nelson J. Leonard. His studies at Illinois were in the area of synthetic organic chemistry aimed at molecules of biological importance, particularly nucleosides.

    After receiving his Ph.D. in 1983, and a brief postdoctoral stay with Professor Leonard, he returned to the Boston area to undertake postdoctoral studies in the laboratory of future Nobel laureate Professor E. J. Corey at Harvard University. There, he continued in the area of biological chemistry studying several aspects of the prostaglandin family of compounds from the various perspectives of chemical synthesis, biosynthesis, and enzymatic evaluation. In 1986, he moved a few miles north to Tufts University to take a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry. He remained on the faculty at Tufts for the next 21 years.

    In 2007, he moved to San José State University in California where he served as faculty member, Associate Dean of Research in the College of Science, and is currently Dean of the College of Graduate Studies. His research at Tufts and at SJSU involves several aspects of biological and medicinal chemistry including the design and synthesis of potential antitumor agents, and a study of insulin action by synthesis of molecules related to insulin signal transduction with potential utility as treatments for type II diabetes mellitus.

    He has taught courses in biochemistry, organic, medicinal, and general chemistry and served as the chairman of the Chemistry Department at Tufts from 1996-2000. He has also been involved with two start-up technology companies, Pure Cycle Environmental Technologies, Inc. (Palmer, MA) where he served as Vice President and DC Polymers, Inc. (Melrose, MA), where he served as Chief Scientific Officer. DC Polymers was founded in 2007 to commercialize electrochemically-degradable polymer technology invented in part in Prof. d’Alarcao’s laboratory. He also serves on the board of two non-profits, the SJSU Research Foundation and the newly established Gemio Foundation.