JOHN FENN DIES AT 93

Abstract

John B. Fenn, 93, who shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work that aided the mass spectrometric analysis of proteins and other large biological molecules, died on Dec. 10, 2010, in Richmond, Va. “John was first and foremost a warm human being, willing to discuss passionately science and life with everyone and anyone. He was a friend and mentor to me and countless others,” says David C. Muddiman, a chemistry professor at North Carolina State University. “The Nobel Prize did not change John; he was the same man before and after, always showing a strong sense of humility and constantly inspiring others.” Fenn is best known for the development of electrospray as an ionization method for mass spectrometry. In electrospray, an electric field disperses a solution into a fine mist of charged droplets. As the solvent evaporates, solute molecules are released as free gas-phase ions. The process is gentle enough that large ...