Peter B. Armentrout, 2021 Recipient
Dr. Peter B. Armentrout is the recipient of the 2021 ASMS John B. Fenn Award for a Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry, for the development of robust experimental and statistical techniques for the determination of accurate thermochemistry. He developed the guided ion beam threshold dissociation approach to provide insights into the thermochemistry, kinetics, and dynamics of simple and complex chemical reactions. In addition, he developed a suite of software programs for statistically modeling the energy dependence of product formation for most reactive processes. He shared both the instrumentation designs and the software with labs around the world to enable the greater scientific community to study thermochemical processes.
These developments have allowed nearly 2500 distinct bond energies to be measured during his career. The impact of these fundamental measurements have been felt over many fields, including catalysis, biochemistry, surface chemistry, organometallic chemistry, and plasma chemistry.
Dr. Armentrout is the Henry Eyring Presidential Endowed Chair of Chemistry, University of Utah.