The ASMS Award for Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry is named to honor the memory of John B. Fenn who shared the 2002 Nobel Prize for the development of electrospray Ionization. John joined ASMS in 1986 and remained an active member until his passing in 2010.
The John B. Fenn Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry recognizes a focused or singular achievement in fundamental or applied mass spectrometry in contrast to awards that recognize lifetime achievement. The award is conferred at the ASMS Annual Conference with the presentation of a $10,000 cash award, a recognition plaque, and the award lecture.
Jack Henion, 2025 Recipient
Jack Henion is the recipient of the ASMS John B. Fenn Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry for his singular, focused achievement in the conception, development, and application of pneumatically assisted electrospray ionization.
Professor Jack Henion is Emeritus Professor of Toxicology at Cornell University, where he joined the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1976. In 1993, Dr. Henion co-founded Advion BioSciences, where he served as President and CEO until 2006, when he became Chief Scientific Officer of Advion, Inc.
During his tenure at Cornell, Professor Henion conducted pioneering research and explored applications in many areas of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), particularly employing atmospheric pressure ionization (API) sources. He has published over 235 peer-reviewed papers, trained nearly 100 students, post-doctoral scientists, and trainees, and received 12 patents for inventions arising from his work.
For more than four decades, he has developed and delivered an extraordinary range of short courses at ASMS, MSACL, Pittcon, ACS, and beyond—teaching at conferences, corporate sites, and online—leaving a lasting impact on tens of thousands of students.
Jack also served as ASMS Vice President for Arrangements from 2015 to 2017, ASMS Member-at-Large for Education from 1992 to 1994, and as a member of the JASMS Editorial Board from 1997 to 2004.
Eligibility & How To Submit a Nomination
GO TO ONLINE AWARDS PLATFORM to start your nomination [platform will reopen in June 2025]. You will register (create) an account with our special awards platform and then get started by selecting 'John B. Fenn Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry' from the dropdown list of awards.
Eligibility
Nominee must be a current member of ASMS.
Information & Elements Needed for Nomination
- Nominee name, affiliation, position title, email, mobile phone number, and ASMS member status.
- Nominator name and email.
- 1-2 concise sentence(s) to state a focused or singular achievement in basic or applied mass spectrometry (50 words max). This may be excerpted from the fuller description document.
- Fuller description of the nominee's a focused or singular achievement in basic or applied mass spectrometry (1-page max). PDF only.
- List of the nominee’s publications pertaining to the significant achievement. PDF only.
- Specific publications relevant to the achievement. Up to two articles, one is required.
- Two support letters. Gather and upload the two letters OR choose to send a special upload link via the awards platform.
NOVEMBER 30 DEADLINE
Eligibility is restricted to members of ASMS. Nominations will be held for three years.