He replaces Ardis Savory, who retired from University service in December. Boccanfuso received his Ph.D. in chemistry from USC in 1988 after earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Furman University in 1983.

He is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. Boccanfuso currently is manager of the Education Advisory Solutions Practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Prior to that position, he was associate provost for research and federal relations at Bowling Green State University (1994–1999); a public health analyst in the Science Policy and Analysis Branch of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1991–1994); a program officer for the National Science Foundation (1989–1991); and a science policy fellow for the American Chemical Society (1988–1989).