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Jean H. Futrell CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION JEAN H. FUTRELL Transcript of an Interview Conducted by Michael A. Grayson at Futrell’s home Richland, Washington on 28 and 29 October 2012 (With Subsequent Corrections and Additions) ACKNOWLEDGMENT This oral history is one in a series initiated by the Chemical Heritage Foundation on behalf of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. The series documents the personal perspectives of individuals related to the advancement of mass spectrometric instrumentation, and records the human dimensions of the growth of mass spectrometry in academic, industrial, and governmental laboratories during the twentieth century. This project is made possible through the generous support of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry This oral history is designated Free Access. Please note: Users citing this interview for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) Center for Oral History to credit CHF using the format below: Jean Futrell, interview by Michael A. Grayson at Richland, Washington, 28 and 29 October 2012 (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript #0706). Chemical Heritage Foundation Center for Oral History 315 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 The Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) serves the community of the chemical and molecular sciences, and the wider public, by treasuring the past, educating the present, and inspiring the future. CHF maintains a world-class collection of materials that document the history and heritage of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries; encourages research in CHF collections; and carries out a program of outreach and interpretation in order to advance an understanding of the role of the chemical and molecular sciences, technologies, and industries in shaping society. CHEMICAL HERITAGE FOUNDA'f!ON Oral History Program FINAL RELEASE FORM This document contains my understanding and agreement with the Chemical Heritage Foundation with respect to my participation in the audio- and/or video-recorded interview conducted by Michael A. Grayson on 28 and 29 October 2012. I have read the transcript supplied by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. 1. The recordings, transcripts, photographs, research materials, and memorabilia (collectively called the "Work") will be maintained by the Chemical Heritage Foundation and made available in accordance with general policies for research and other scholarly purposes. 2. I hereby grant, assign, and transfer to the Chemical Heritage Foundation all right, title, and interest in the Work, including the literary rights and the copyright, except that 1 shall retain the right to copy, use, and publish the Work in part or in full until my death. 3. The manuscript may be read and the recording(s) heard/viewed by scholars approved by the Chemical Heritage Foundation unless restrictions are placed on the transcript as listed below. This constitutes my entire and complete understanding. (Signature) Jemf,lif.rutrell OPTIONAL: I wish to place the following restrictions on the use of this interview: Regardless of any restrictions that may be placed on the transcript of the interview, the Chemical Heritage Foundation retains the rights to all materials generated about my oral history interview, including the title page, abstract, table of contents, chronology, index, etcetera (collectively called the "Front Matter and Index"), all of which will be made available on the Chemical Heritage Foundation's website. Should the Chemical Heritage Foundation wish to post to the Internet the content of the oral history interview, that is, direct quotations, audio clips, video clips, or other material from the oral history recordings or the transcription of the recordings, the Chemical Heritage Foundation will be bound by the restrictions for use placed on the Work as detailed above. Should the Chemical Heritage Foundation wish to post to the Internet the entire oral history interview during my lifetime, I will have the opportunity to permit or deny this posting. I understand that the Chemical Heritage Foundation will enforce my wishes until the time of my death, when any restrictions will be removed. Rcvi~ed 121!8/2012 JEAN H. FUTRELL 1933 Born in Grant Parish, Louisiana on 20 October Education 1955 BA, Louisiana Tech University, Chemical Engineering 1958 PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Physical Chemistry Professional Experience Exxon Research Center, Baytown, Texas 1958-1959 Research Scientist Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 1959-1961 First Lieutenant and Captain 1961-1966 Senior Scientist, Aerospace Research Laboratories University of Utah 1966-1967 Associate Professor, Chemistry 1967-1986 Professor, Chemistry University of Delaware 1986-1990 Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry 1986-1997 Chair, Chemistry and Biochemistry 1990-1998 Willis F. Harrington Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry 1993-1998 Professor, Chemical Engineering Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 1998-2002 Director 2002-2013 Battelle Fellow 2013-Present Battelle Fellow Emeritus Honors 1995 American Chemical Society Delaware Section Research Award 2000 the International Symposium on Atomic and Surface Physics Erwin Schrödinger Gold Medal 2004 First American honored by special issue of the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Honor Symposium in Konstanz, Germany 2006 PNNL Director's Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science and Technology 2007 Honor issue of International Journal of Mass Spectrometry and Ion Physics 2007 Frank H. Field and Joe L. Franklin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Mass Spectrometry by the American Chemical Society in Mass Spectrometry 2009 Elected to the Inaugural Class of American Chemical Society Fellows ABSTRACT Jean H. Futrell was born in rural Grant Parish, Louisiana, in 1933. An only child, he grew up in a household that included his parents and both grandfathers. He majored in chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University where he was also enrolled in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Summer jobs in Research Centers at Phillips Petroleum and the Humble Oil and Refining Company led him to consider attending graduate school to strengthen his credentials for a research career in industry. Futrell selected the University of California at Berkeley, where his thesis research was in radiation chemistry in Nobel Laureate Glenn Seaborg’s research group, with Amos Newton as his direct supervisor. His graduate studies introduced him to mass spectrometry as an analytical technique, but he was not allowed to do any experiments with the instrument. Nevertheless it played a vital role in Futrell’s research, which featured a primitive form of gas chromatography to separate radiolysis products into mixtures whose components could actually be identified by mass spectrometry. Futrell’s first job after receiving his PhD was as a radiation chemist at Humble exploring applications of radiation processing of petroleum fractions. He also initiated research with ions using a mass spectrometer that had been retired from service. After eight months, the Air Force called on him to complete his military service obligation, and he traveled to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He was assigned to the Aerospace Research Laboratory, exploring gas-phase radiation chemistry and acquiring a mass spectrometer. He published more than twenty papers during his time there and remained at Wright-Patterson as a civilian scientist. Freedom and generous funding enabled him to develop tandem mass spectrometry as a precise way to explore ion-molecule reaction kinetics. Futrell’s decision to accept an appointment as Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah in 1966 was strongly influenced by Henry Eyring and Austin Wahrhaftig’s development of the fundamental theory underlying mass spectrometry and by the strength of their physical chemistry division. Futrell continued to build his own versions of spectrometers as unique research tools for exploring the frontiers of ion chemistry and for making significant occasional contributions to analytical chemistry, including increasing sensitivity of commercial mass spectrometers for addressing the detection of acutely toxic chemicals in the environment. In 1987 Futrell accepted the position of Department Head of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Delaware, a position he held for eleven years. An unexpected bonus was meeting Professor of Art Anne Krohn Graham; they were married in 1988. In 1998 Futrell was recruited by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, to lead the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). This laboratory develops platforms for research in all areas of the molecular sciences. As the first Director of EMSL he set the priorities for staff recruitment and deployment of unique instrumentation that have attracted user scientists from every state and over twenty foreign countries. In 2013 he retired from active service and became the first Battelle Fellow Emeritus at PNNL. Futrell discusses how he got interested in chemistry, the importance of communication and how working with young scientists becomes an effective means for educating yourself. Mentoring, competition, the importance of creativity, changes in mass spectrometry over the years, public perception of science, and information overload are briefly discussed. INTERVIEWER Michael A. Grayson
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