Jose grew up in Puerto Rico. He received his B.S in industrial chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao, where he worked, under the supervision of Margarita Ortiz-Marcialez, on the synthesis of organic borazines. He now works on new conjugate addition reactions using 1,1 organodiborons. When not in the lab, he loves to cook on the grill and watch baseball games and outside activities with friends.