John H. Beynon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Herbert Beynon
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| Born | 29 December 1923 Ystalyfera, Wales
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| Died | 24 August 2015 (aged 91) Swansea, Wales
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| Alma mater | University of Wales Swansea |
| Awards | Thomson Medal (1985) Field and Franklin Award (1987) Aston Medal (1990) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry, physics |
| Institutions | Swansea University |
| Influenced | A. Gareth Brenton |
| 1st Chair of the Executive Committee, British Mass Spectrometry Society | |
| In office 1964–1965 |
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| Preceded by | office established |
| Succeeded by | John Waldron |
John H. Beynon (born December 29, 1923 – died August 24, 2015) was a smart Welsh scientist. He was both a chemist and a physicist. He became famous for his important work with something called mass spectrometry.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
John Beynon was born in a coal-mining town in Wales called Ystalyfera. He was the older of two brothers.
He went to the University of Wales at Swansea (now Swansea University) in the early 1940s. This was right when World War II was starting.
He earned a degree in physics in 1943. Instead of going to graduate school, he joined the Fighting Vehicles Research Establishment. From 1943 to 1947, he helped create special systems for tanks.
Working in Science
From 1947 to 1969, Beynon worked at a big company called Imperial Chemical Industries. He was a manager in different science areas, including physics and chemistry.
Between 1947 and 1950, Beynon built the very first mass spectrometer designed to study organic compounds. These are special chemicals found in living things. He then worked with another company, Metropolitan-Vickers, to make the MS8 mass spectrometer. This machine was a test version for the later AEI MS9 mass spectrometer.
In 1964, Beynon became a senior research associate. This allowed him to do his own scientific research. In 1965, he was a special fellow at the University of Minnesota in the United States.
Teaching and Research
In 1968, Beynon became a professor of chemistry at Purdue University. He also became the director of their Mass Spectrometry Center.
Later, in 1974, Beynon returned to Swansea University. He became a Royal Society Research Professor and led the Mass Spectrometry Research Unit there.
Awards and Special Recognitions
John Beynon received many awards for his amazing work in mass spectrometry. Some of these include:
- The Sigma Xi Research Award from 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 in 1984.
- The International Mass Spectrometry Society Thomson Medal in 1985.
- The American Chemical Society Field and Franklin Award in 1987.
- The British Mass Spectrometry Society Aston Medal in 1998.
- The Italian Mass Spectrometry Society Gold Medal in 1990.
He also helped start important science groups:
- He was the first chairman of the British Mass Spectrometry Society in 1960.
- He was a founding member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry in 1967.
- He was the first president of the European Mass Spectrometry Society in 1993.
In 1971, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom.
Beynon wrote over 350 scientific papers and several books about mass spectrometry. In 1987, he became the first editor-in-chief of a science journal called Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry.
More to Explore
- Mass-analyzed ion-kinetic-energy spectrometry
- Unimolecular ion decomposition
