Dr Torok received his Ph.D. from the University of Szeged, Hungary in Organic Chemistry/Heterogeneous Catalysis. After receiving his Ph.D. he did postdoctoral training with the 1994 Nobel Laureate George Olah at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles working on the development of environmentally benign alkylate gasoline production.
He has held various faculty appointments at Michigan Technological University and the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he is currently a Professor of Chemistry. In 2011/12 he was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working with the 2005 Nobel Laureate Richard Schrock on the development of new alkene metathesis catalysts. His main research focus is on the design of new green chemistry processes for the synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The major tools applied in his research are heterogeneous catalysis (both metal and solid acid), catalytic hydrogenation, the application of aqueous medium in organic synthesis and unusual activation methods such as microwave and ultrasonic irradiation. He has published over 200 papers and book chapters, many of them in the journal Green Chemistry and other Green Chemistry related books as well as authored/edited three major books all with Green Chemistry focus.