
Tom Molnar graduated from SEBS in 2006 with a Ph.D. in Plant Biology.
Cook College alumnus Thomas Molnar came to Rutgers University in the 90s, graduating with a B.S. in plant science in 2000, then a Ph.D. in plant biology in 2006. Now an associate professor of plant biology at SEBS, Molnar has cultivated a reputation for innovative research of hazelnut trees.
Ferrero Group, the famed Italian producers of Nutella and Rocher chocolates, caught wind of his research in fungal disease that infects the stems of hazelnut trees in North America. With a $170k grant from the company, Molnar’s research is helping to open the region to a whole new economic sector – hazelnut cultivation.
What helped Molnar succeed informs his advice for students and researchers-to-be – try new things, cultivate a passion, and get to know what you don’t like. Then, seek mentorship for what you do.
What you don’t like
Molnar didn’t fall far from the proverbial hazelnut tree. In high school, he lived with his grandfather who retired from a plant nursery and was surrounded by ornamental trees and potted plants. He was interested in genetics and wanted to be a biologist to work with animals until a realization in his first year of college that such research might entail ethical tradeoffs with animal welfare.
“I was interested in genetics, then I realized that I would be working in a lab with mice and be doing terrible things to them,” said Molnar. “I didn’t want to do that.”

Molnar and his mentor professor C. Reed Funk, whose vision led to the development of the hazelnut breeding program.
Mentorship
Then, he landed a job with an internationally recognized expert in plant breeding – Dr. Reed Funk, one of the original turfgrass breeders at Rutgers. With Molnar under his wing, Funk would soon switch to breeding nut trees for food production.
“I helped him right from the beginning plant a lot of trees,” said Molnar. “Every nut tree you can think of, we got seeds of and started planting them to see what would work best in NJ. We did that for six or seven years. Hazelnuts were the ones that stood out. If we put the right effort, we could make a whole new industry.”
Breakthrough
Hazelnut trees native to North America are more like shrubs and produce small nuts that are mostly shell. Try planting a European hazelnut tree, which is much larger and produces meaty, delicious hazelnuts, and they will soon die from a strain of eastern filbert blight, until now.
Decades of tree planting to identify resistant strains has resulted in four highly productive hazelnut cultivars that were released in 2020. Now, more than 30 growers are cultivating these trees in New Jersey, and many more across New York and Pennsylvania.
Advice
Molnar credits Dr. Funk’s mentorship as a student at Rutgers for helping lead him down the right path.
“The mentorship was really powerful at Rutgers,” said Molnar. “When I work with students, I try to get them to find what they love and meet the faculty, get to know them, and get involved in the research.”
“Getting experience and sorting out what you’re passionate about as an undergraduate student is especially important. Once you find that, you go all in,” said Molnar. “That’s the time to do it. I like the idea of finding what you don’t like. That’s so important.”
“I had such great support at Rutgers as an undergraduate student and faculty member,” said Molnar. “I found myself in a department that was supportive the whole way through and allowed me to thrive. Rutgers has always been a great home for me. It makes me proud to be an alumnus and now mentor my own students.”