Nobel Laureate John Bennett Fenn (1917–2010), Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry Pioneer

John Bennett Fenn (1917–2010) died in Richmond, Virginia on December 10, 2010 at the age of 93 on the exact day of the annual ceremony of the Nobel Prize awards and the 115th birthday of Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833–1896). His demise coincided with the eighth anniversary of his Nobel Prize for Chemistry, awarded on December 10, 2002, when he was 85 years old, the oldest Nobel laureate in Chemistry to date. This obituary-tribute discusses his life and career, with emphasis on his research on molecular beams and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, his Nobel-Prize-winning work. Statements by Fenn about his life, science, and chemical education are included.