Digital Collections

Photograph of Keith Jennings

Oral history interview with Keith R. Jennings

  • 2008-Apr-24 (First session)
  • 2008-Apr-25 (Second session)

Oral history interview with Keith R. Jennings

  • 2008-Apr-24 (First session)
  • 2008-Apr-25 (Second session)

Keith R. Jennings begins his oral history by discussing his youth and education in the United Kingdom, including his chemistry studies at University of Oxford, where he worked with Jack Wilfrid Linnett, and his postdoctoral position with Robert Cevetanovic at the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada. Jennings took a position at the University of Sheffield and moved on to the University of Warwick. Jennings reflects on his lengthy career at the University of Warwick, his research on mass spectrometry and the field of mass spectrometry in general, and his notable collaborators and peers.

Property Value
Interviewee
Interviewer
Place of interview
Format
Genre
Extent
  • 165 pages
Language
Subject
Rights Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License
Rights holder
  • Science History Institute
Credit line
  • Courtesy of Science History Institute

About the Interviewer

Michael A. Grayson is a member of the Mass Spectrometry Research Resource at Washington University in St. Louis. He received his BS degree in physics from St. Louis University in 1963 and his MS in physics from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1965. He is the author of over 45 papers in the scientific literature. Before joining the Research Resource, he was a staff scientist at McDonnell Douglas Research Laboratory. While completing his undergraduate and graduate education, he worked at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, where he learned the art and science of mass spectrometry. Grayson is a member of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), and has served many different positions within that organization. He has served on the Board of Trustees of CHF and is currently a member of CHF's Heritage Council. He currently pursues his interest in the history of mass spectrometry by recording oral histories, assisting in the collection of papers, and researching the early history of the field.

Institutional location

Department
Collection
Oral history number 0419

Related Items

Interviewee biographical information

Born
  • December 05, 1932
  • Sheffield, United Kingdom

Education

Year Institution Degree Discipline
1956 Queen's College (University of Oxford) BA Chemistry
1958 Queen's College (University of Oxford) MA Chemistry
1958 Queen's College (University of Oxford) DPhil Chemistry

Professional Experience

National Research Council Canada

  • 1958 to 1960 Postdoctorate, under R.J. Cvetanovic

University of Sheffield

  • 1960 to 1969 Lecturer
  • 1969 to 1972 Reader

University of Warwick

  • 1972 to 1997 Professor of Physical Chemistry
  • 1974 to 1980 Chairman of Department
  • 1983 to 1985 Chairman, Board of Science
  • 1983 to 1986 Chairman of Department
  • 1989 to 1995 Chairman of Department

Honors

Year(s) Award
1985 Thomson Medal presented by the International Mass Spectrometry Congress
1995 Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry presented by the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
1996 Visiting Gulbenkian Professor, New University of Lisbon
1997 Honorary DSc, University of Lisbon, Portugal
1998 Field and Franklin Award for Outstanding Work in Mass Spectrometry presented by the American Chemical Society
1998 Aston Medal for Outstanding Contributions presented by the British Mass Spectrometry Society
1998 Elected Life Member of the British Mass Spectrometry Society

Cite as

See our FAQ page to learn how to cite an oral history.

Complete transcript of interview

PDF — 1.0 MB
jennings_kr_0419_FULL.pdf

The published version of the transcript may diverge from the interview audio due to edits to the transcript made by staff of the Center for Oral History, often at the request of the interviewee, during the transcript review process.

Complete Interview Audio File Web-quality download

4 Separate Interview Segments Archival-quality downloads