Dr. Rein V. Kirss graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a BS in chemistry, a BA in history, and an MA in chemistry. He earned his PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he definitely laid the seeds for this textbook. He is a chemistry associate professor with a strong interest in organometallic chemistry.

He spent a year with Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. after two years of postdoctoral studies at the University of Rochester, before returning to academics at Northeastern University in 1989.