Who introduced you to GC?

I was assigned as his "gofor" for the day. It was a memorable experience; he really turned me on to GC with his knowledge and enthusiasm and tips on making tea (heat the cup!). The next summer, I worked with Steve Dal Nogare from DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware, USA and was indoctrinated in temperature-programmed GC. Steve was a great mentor and very enthusiastic about GC. Finally, my Fulbright fellowship with Professor A.I.M. Keulemans in 1959, convinced me I would work on GC for as long as I could. So many of the pioneers in GC came to his lab and I was fortunate to work with many of them — and this fired my enthusiasm for GC.

A research project in 1976, which correlated pKb's of weak aromatic amines with retention time on acidic silica gel, was recognized by NASA as the second most cited scientific publication for that year. The Viking-Mars Landing was Number One! Our work was one of the first publications on the LC analysis of aromatic diamines. Not only did this class of compounds hold high interest for NASA in relation to polymer research, but they also held high biological significance; thus, many researchers in the biomedical and pharmaceutical communities also paid close attention to this work.

But equally as important as the quality of the scientific publications was the work ethic, the group effort and strong friendships established while at Virginia Tech. Some of the best memories were the long van rides to Pittcon each year. I was always so proud when one of my students gave a great lecture at some conference. I am still in contact with almost all of my former students.