John H. Beynon

John Herbert Beynon
John Herbert Beynon
Born(1923-12-29)29 December 1923
Ystalyfera, Wales
Died24 August 2015(2015-08-24) (aged 91)
Swansea, Wales
Alma materUniversity of Wales Swansea
AwardsThomson Medal (1985)
Field and Franklin Award (1987)
Aston Medal (1990)
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry, physics
InstitutionsSwansea University
1st Chair of the Executive Committee, British Mass Spectrometry Society
In office
1964–1965
Preceded byoffice established
Succeeded byJohn Waldron

John H. Beynon FRS[1][2] (29 December 1923 – 24 August 2015) was a Welsh chemist and physicist known for his work in mass spectrometry.[3][4]

Education and military service

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Beynon was born in the Welsh coal-mining town of Ystalyfera and was the older of two brothers. He went on to attend the University of Wales at Swansea (now Swansea University) in the early 1940s at the start of World War II.[5] [6][7] He received a B.S. in physics in 1943. He did not attend graduate school, instead deciding to join the Fighting Vehicles Research Establishment where he served between 1943 and 1947 developing tank fire-control systems.[8][9]

Career in industry

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Between the year 1947 and 1969, Beynon was Manager of Physics and Physical, Polymer and Analytical Chemistry at Imperial Chemical Industries.[10] Between 1947 and 1950, Beynon constructed what was to become the first mass spectrometer designed to study organic compounds unrelated to petroleum.[8][11] He subsequently collaborated with Metropolitan-Vickers to produce the MS8 mass spectrometer, a prototype of the Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) MS9 mass spectrometer.[12]

Beynon was made a senior research associate in 1964 which allowed him the opportunity to carry out his own research.[8] He was a Boomer Memorial Fellow at the University of Minnesota in 1965.

Academic career

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Beynon took a position as Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Mass Spectrometry Center at Purdue University in 1968.[13] In 1974 Beynon accepted a position as Royal Society Research Professor and Director of the Mass Spectrometry Research Unit at Swansea University.[14]

Awards and honours

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Beynon received the Sigma Xi Research Award, Purdue University in 1973, the Marice F. Hasler Award in 1979, the Jozef Stefan Medal in 1980, the Medal of the Serbian Chemical Society in 1981, the Techmart Trophy of the British Technology Group in 1984, the Jan Marc Marci Medal, Czechoslovak Spectroscopic Society in 1984, the International Mass Spectrometry Society Thomson Medal in 1985, the American Chemical Society Field and Franklin Award for Outstanding Work in Mass Spectrometry in 1987, the British Mass Spectrometry Society Aston Medal in 1998,[15][16] and the Italian Mass Spectrometry Society Gold Medal in 1990.[7]

He was the Founder chairman British Mass Spectrometry Society (1960), a founding member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (1967), and Founder President of the European Mass Spectrometry Society (1993). Beynon was elected to the Royal Society in 1971.[1]

He authored over 350 scientific publications.[17] and several books on mass spectrometry.[18][19]

In 1987, Beynon was founding editor-in-chief of the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Professor John Beynon FRS". The Royal Society. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. ^ Boyd, Robert (2023). "John Herbert Beynon. 29 December 1923—24 August 2015". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 73: 53–74. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2023.0007.
  3. ^ a b Cooks, Graham (2016). "John H. Beynon (1923–2015)". Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. 27 (4): 561–562. Bibcode:2016JASMS..27..561C. doi:10.1007/s13361-016-1337-9. ISSN 1044-0305. PMID 26832345. S2CID 34383141.
  4. ^ Evans, Neville (1 September 2013). "Scientists of Wales: Professor John H. Beynon, F.R.S." Cymru Culture. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  5. ^ Maccoll, Allan (1983). "J. H. Beynon". Organic Mass Spectrometry. 18 (12): 503–505. doi:10.1002/oms.1210181202. ISSN 0030-493X.
  6. ^ Center for Oral History. "John H. Beynon". Science History Institute.
  7. ^ a b Grayson, Michael A. (22 April 2008). John H. Beynon, Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Michael A. Grayson at Swansea, Wales United Kingdom on 22 April 2008 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation.
  8. ^ a b c Keith A. Nier; Alfred L. Yergey; P. Jane Gale (2 July 2015). The Encyclopedia of Mass Spectrometry: Volume 9: Historical Perspectives, Part B: Notable People in Mass Spectrometry. Elsevier Science. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-0-08-100395-4.
  9. ^ Beynon, John H. (1994). "Letters to the editor". Mass Spectrometry Reviews. 13 (2): 183–185. Bibcode:1994MSRv...13..183B. doi:10.1002/mas.1280130205. ISSN 0277-7037.
  10. ^ Williams, A. E. (1983). "My years with John (1947–73)". Organic Mass Spectrometry. 18 (12): 506–508. doi:10.1002/oms.1210181203. ISSN 0030-493X.
  11. ^ Beynon, J. H. (1991). "Mass spectrometry in retrospect: 25 years and more". Organic Mass Spectrometry. 26 (5): 353–358. doi:10.1002/oms.1210260503. ISSN 0030-493X.
  12. ^ "New Mass Spectrometer in Production". Chemical & Engineering News. 40 (51): 64–71. 1962. doi:10.1021/cen-v040n051.p064. ISSN 0009-2347.
  13. ^ Cooks, R. Graham (2004). "John Beynon at Purdue". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 18 (1): 7–10. Bibcode:2004RCMS...18....7C. doi:10.1002/rcm.1303. ISSN 0951-4198. PMID 14689550.
  14. ^ Brenton, Gareth (2004). "John H. Beynon the Swansea years 1974–1986". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 18 (1): 13–20. Bibcode:2004RCMS...18...13B. doi:10.1002/rcm.1301. ISSN 0951-4198. PMID 14689552.
  15. ^ Games, D. E. (1990). "British Mass Spectrometry Society Aston Medal Awarded to Professor J. H. Beynon FRS". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 4 (11): 491. doi:10.1002/rcm.1290041109. ISSN 0951-4198.
  16. ^ Brenton, Gareth (2008). "Aston Medal 1990 John Herbert Beynon" (PDF). BMSS Mass Matters. British Mass Spectrometry Society. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  17. ^ "J. H. Beynon: List of publications". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 18 (1): 24–36. 2004. Bibcode:2004RCMS...18...24.. doi:10.1002/rcm.1307. ISSN 0951-4198. PMID 14689556.
  18. ^ "Metastable Ions in Mass Spectrometry". Analytical Chemistry. 46 (7): 631A–632A. 1974. doi:10.1021/ac60343a741. ISSN 0003-2700.
  19. ^ John Herbert Beynon (1960). Mass spectrometry and its applications to organic chemistry. Elsevier Pub. Co. ISBN 9780444400475.
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