Profs. Munson, Futrell honored with special journal issue

Burnaby Munson, professor of chemistry and biochemistry

1:25 p.m., May 25, 2004--Burnaby Munson, UD professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Jean Futrell, Willard F. Harrington Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UD, have been honored for their scientific achievements by the publication of a special issue of the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry (EJMS). The issue honors both Munson and Futrell for key contributions over the years to the science and technology of mass spectrometry. Munson and Futrell are the first Americans to be honored in this way.

“Burnaby and Jean are two of the most deeply respected members of the international mass spectrometry community, and we are proud to provide their many admiring friends and colleagues with a forum to honor them,” Peter Derrick of the University of Warwick and editor-in-chief of EJMS said. In addition, Derrick said, the issue is an acknowledgement that because of Munson and Futrell and their younger colleagues—Doug Ridge and Murray Johnston, both professors of chemistry and biochemistry at UD—the University of Delaware is one of the world’s leading centers for research in mass spectrometry.

Bound copies of the issue and commemorative plaques were presented to Munson and Futrell at a special session of the European Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry meeting at the University of Konstanz on March 31. The issue contains 18 papers from leading mass spectrometrists from all over the world, and it is one of the largest issues EJMS has published. Papers in the issue stimulated considerable discussion at the meeting and are expected to be cited frequently in the future.

Munson is best known for his work on chemical ionization mass spectrometry, which made it possible to obtain informative mass spectra of high molecular weight and sensitive compounds. His work was the first cited by the Nobel committee as leading to the work of the 2003 Chemistry Nobel Prize-winners John Fenn and Koichi Tanaka. Munson has won many awards including the Joe Franklin and Frank Field Award in Mass Spectrometry given by the American Chemical Society, and he has served as president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry.

Jean Futrell, Willard F. Harrington Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Munson also is an outstanding educator who played a key role in the development of the highly regarded undergraduate Honors Program at UD. Munson has been teaching and advising in the University Honors Program since it was established in 1976 and has served as both acting director and director of the program. He is a member of several professional societies and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also has received numerous awards in his field and at the University.

In July 2002, Munson received UD’s Medal of Distinction. It is presented to individuals of the state and region who have made humanitarian, cultural, intellectual or scientific contributions to society, have achieved noteworthy success in their professions or have given significant service to the University, the state and the region.

Futrell is best known for his pioneering work with tandem mass spectrometry. He developed instruments that incorporated mass spectrometers to prepare ion beams to collide with beams of neutral molecules. Collision products were then analyzed by a second mass spectrometer. Such studies provided invaluable fundamental information on chemical reactivity, and the technology is now ubiquitous in leading analytical mass spectrometry laboratories.

Futrell has received many awards and has served as the president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. After serving more than a decade as chairperson of UD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, in 1998 Futrell became founding director of the Wiley Laboratory for Molecular and Environmental Science at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he is now a scientific fellow. Futrell continues to conduct collaborative research with members of UD’s chemistry department.

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