Nivaldo Tro is a chemistry professor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where he has worked since 1990. His Ph.D. was awarded to him. For work on creating and applying optical tools to examine the adsorption and desorption of molecules to and from surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum, he received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University. He then went on to perform post-doctoral research on ultra-fast reaction dynamics in solution at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Tro has received funds from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund, Research Corporation, and the National Science Foundation to investigate the dynamics of diverse processes in thin adlayer films adsorbed on dielectric surfaces since arriving at Westmont.

He has been named Westmont's outstanding instructor of the year on two occasions, as well as the college's outstanding researcher of the year. Professor Tro, his wife Ann, and their four children, Michael, Ali, Kyle, and Kaden, live in Santa Barbara. Professor Tro spends his free time reading wonderful books to his children and spending time outside with his family.