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Keynote Speaker

2021 Keynote Speaker: Dr. R. Graham Cooks 

 

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R. Graham Cooks is the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Purdue University. Prof. Cooks has been honored as Elected Fellow for US National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Inventors, Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry, and Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences. In addition, he currently serves as co-director for the Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development at Purdue and is a strong advocate for the Jonathan Amy Instrumentation Facility in the Department of Chemistry. Prof. Cooks has served as major professor and advisor to more than 150 PhD students, and more than 300 graduate students, post-doctoral, and visiting scientists have worked and published with Prof. Graham Cooks. Briefly, research interests in his group include 1) ambient ionization and tandem mass spectrometry methods of analysis of complex mixtures, 2) mass spectrometry methods for cancer diagnostics, 3) high-throughput synthesis and analysis techniques, 4) instrumentation development, and 5) undergraduate laboratory training in mass spectrometry for chemical education. Prof. Cooks has published over 1500 research articles, ranks among the most cited chemists worldwide, been the recipient of numerous awards, accolades, and patents in his career, as well as authored numerous books on mass spectrometry, organic spectroscopy, and related reviews. Prof., Cooks` influential career in mass spectrometry research and technologies has resulted in several start-up companies (e.g. FLIR, Prosolia Inc., PurSpec, etc.). He received a Ph.D. from the University of Natal, South Africa with alkaloid chemist Prof. Frank L. Warren in 1965 and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, Great Britain working with Dr. Peter Sykes in 1967. Graham has devoted his career to development of mass spectrometry methods and technologies to improve everyday life in the biological, environmental, forensic, materials, and analytical sciences. Prof. Cooks has been an ardent supporter of the Turkey Run Analytical Chemistry Conference from its onset. In addition to analytical chemistry he spends time gardening and following English literature.