Oral history interview with Raymond E. March
- 2014-Oct-27
Oral history interview with Raymond E. March
- 2014-Oct-27
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Raymond March was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. March’s childhood was shaped by World War II, and by a mysterious polio-like paralysis which caused him to miss a great deal of school. He took an apprenticeship with PAMETRADA (Parsons and Marine Engineering Turbine Research and Development Association) Research Station before gaining admittance to University of Leeds. There he majored in chemistry and was in the University Air Squadron. He accepted a scholarship to the University of Toronto, where he worked on flash photolysis with John Polanyi.
March developed a needle loop technique at Johnson & Johnson, then took a postdoc position in at McGill University, where he worked on methyl metals and microwave discharges; on atmospheric chemistry; and on aluminum trimethyl and impact work for Gerald Bull, who built the supergun. He took an assistant professorship at the brand-new Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. On a sabbatical in France, March learned mass spectrometry and ion traps from Jean Durup and has continued to specialize in quadrupole mass spectrometers and to refine ion traps. Becoming interested in flavonoids, March established the Trent University Water Quality Centre and added an interest in antibiotics. March discusses his contributions to the establishment of Trent University; his role on the editorial board of the International Journal of Mass Spectrometry; his many friends and colleagues; his trips to Europe; funding; and his patents. He concludes with an encomium of the quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer on the Rosetta mission to characterize a comet.
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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.
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| Oral history number | 0921 |
Related Items
Interviewee biographical information
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Education
| Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | University of Leeds | BSc | Chemistry |
| 1961 | University of Toronto | PhD | Chemistry |
Professional Experience
PAMETRADA Research Station
- 1951 to 1954 Apprentice Industrial Chemist
University of Leeds
- 1954 to 1957 Royal Air Force Voluntary Reserve, University Air Squadron
Royal Canadian Air Force Auxiliary
- 1958 to 1963 Flight Lieutenant
Canadian Industries Limited
- 1960 to 1961 Research Fellowship
Johnson & Johnson
- 1961 to 1962 Research Scientist
McGill University
- 1962 to 1963 Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry Department
- 1963 to 1965 Research Associate, Chemistry Department
Loyola College in Maryland
- 1963 to 1965 Lecturer (part-time)
Trent University
- 1965 to 1969 Assistant Professor, Chemistry Department
- 1969 to 1976 Associate Professor, Chemistry Department
- 1976 to 1999 Professor of Chemistry
- 1999 to 2017 Professor Emeritus, Chemistry Department
- 2005 to 2017 Lecturer, graduate course in mass spectrometry
University of Kent at Canterbury
- 1972 to 1973 Research Professor
Queen's University (Kingston, Ont.)
- 1981 to 2000 Adjunct Professor
York University
- 1990 to 2000 Adjunct Professor
University of Waterloo
- 1995 to 2000 Adjunct Professor
Honors
| Year(s) | Award |
|---|---|
| 1950 | Whitley Bay Grammar School, School Certificate Prize in Mathematics |
| 1970 | Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada (FCIC) |
| 1995 | “Recognition Award”, Canadian Mass Spectrometry Society |
| 1995 | Distinguished Faculty Research Award, Trent University |
| 1997 | “Distinguished Contribution Award,” Canadian Mass Spectrometry Society |
| 2000 | DSc from Leeds University |
| 2008 | Docteur (honoris causa), Université d’Aix-Marseille |
| 2009 | Gerhard Herzberg Award, Canadian Society for Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy |
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Complete transcript of interview
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.