VCU's Nobel winner John B. Fenn dies at 93

VCU professor and Nobel laureate John Fenn, who won the prize for chemistry in 2003, died Friday.

By: RANDY HALLMAN | Times-Dispatch
Published: December 11, 2010

John B. Fenn, who shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2002 and who taught analytical chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, died Friday. He was 93.

He shared half of the $1 million international prize with Koichi Tanaka of Japan. The other half went to Swiss scientist Kurt Wethrich.

Mr. Fenn won for inventing a technique that allowed researchers to detect and characterize large biological molecules — he called them elephants — with unprecedented accuracy. The 2002 Nobel chemistry committee said the technique "is used in chemistry laboratories around the world ... contributing to the development of new pharmaceuticals."

Professor Astrid Graslund, secretary of the committee, said Mr. Fenn's work caused "a minor revolution."

Mr. Fenn's hometown was New York, but he grew up in Berea, Ky. He earned his B.A. in chemistry at Berea College and his Ph.D. at Yale University. He first worked in Richmond at Experiment Inc., a private company that specialized in internal combustion engines, from 1945 to 1952, then taught at Princeton University and Yale before returning to Richmond in 1994 to teach at VCU.

Mr. Fenn was the author of one book and more than 100 papers. He was the sole or co-inventor on 19 patents.

In a statement released Friday by VCU, Thomas Huff, vice provost for life sciences, said Mr. Fenn "was one of those scientists whose discovery opened up an entirely new field to investigation — in his case, protemics, the hallmark science of the post-genomic era."

Russell D. Jamison, dean of the VCU School of Engineering, where Mr. Fenn also taught, said: "For a man of such great intellect, John was quite accessible. His humility and good humor made him a pleasure to engage."

VCU President Michael Rao said Fenn's contribution to science is immeasurable and that "he represents the great potential that exists at so many levels at VCU."

Mr. Fenn was modest about winning the coveted Nobel Prize. The VCU statement recalled that at the time he said: "There's an awful lot of luck in this. In fact, there's a lot of luck in science.

"To succeed as a theorist, you have to be good. To succeed as an experimentalist, you can go through life kicking over a lot of stones, and if you're lucky, you'll find something."

Information about a memorial service was unavailable.

rhallman@timesdispatch.com

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