Robert Graham Cooks is the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the Aston Laboratories for Mass Spectrometry at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
. He is an ISI Highly Cited Chemist, with over 1,000 publications and an H-index of 134.
Education
Cooks received a bachelor of science and master of science degrees from the
University of Natal
The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
in South Africa in 1961 and 1963, respectively. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Natal in 1965 and a second Ph.D. from
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1967, where he worked with
Peter Sykes. He then did post-doctoral work at Cambridge with
Dudley Williams.
Career
Cooks became an Assistant Professor at
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
from 1968 to 1971. In 1971, he took a position at
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
. He became a Professor of Chemistry in 1980 and was appointed the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor in 1990.
Cooks was co-editor of the ''
Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry
The ''Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes an annual volume of review articles relevant to analytical chemistry. It was established in 2008 and is published by Annual Reviews.
History
The ''A ...
'' from 2013-2017.
Select research interests
Research in Cooks' laboratory (the Aston Laboratories) has contributed to a diverse assortment of areas within
mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...
, ranging from fundamental research to instrument and method development to applications. Cooks' research interests over the course of his career have included the study of
gas-phase ion chemistry
Gas phase ion chemistry is a field of science encompassed within both chemistry and physics. It is the science that studies ions and molecules in the gas phase, most often enabled by some form of mass spectrometry. By far the most important appl ...
,
tandem mass spectrometry
Tandem mass spectrometry, also known as MS/MS or MS2, is a technique in instrumental analysis where two or more mass analyzers are coupled together using an additional reaction step to increase their abilities to analyse chemical samples. A comm ...
, angle-resolved mass spectrometry and energy-resolved mass spectrometry (ERMS); dissociation processes, including
collision-induced dissociation (CID),
surface-induced dissociation (SID), and
photodissociation (PD); and desorption processes, including
secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), laser desorption ionization (LD) and
desorption electrospray ionization (DESI).
His research has ranged through areas from preparative mass spectrometry, ionization techniques and
quadrupole ion traps (QITs) and related technologies to as far afield as
abiogenisis (also known as "the origin of life") via
homochirality
Homochirality is a uniformity of chirality, or handedness. Objects are chiral when they cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, the left and right hands of a human are approximately mirror images of each other but are not their ow ...
.
Awards and fellowships
* 1984 ACS Analytical Division's Chemical Instrumentation Award
* 1985 Thomson Medal for International Service to Mass Spectrometry
* 1990 and 1995 NSF Special Creativity Award
* 1991 Frank H. Field & Joe Franklin Award, (ACS Award for Mass Spectrometry)
* 1997 Fisher Award (ACS Award for Analytical Chemistry)
* 2006
Distinguished Contribution in Mass Spectrometry Award
* 2008
Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science
Robert Boyle Prize for Analytical Science, formerly called Boyle Medal, is a prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry for Analytical Chemistry.
Not to be confused with the Irish Times Boyle Medal, also awarded in chemistry, or Boyle Higgins Gold ...
* 2012
F.A. Cotton Medal for Excellence in Chemical Research of the
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
* 2013
Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences
The Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences is an award given to an individual researcher in chemistry. The prize, awarded biennially, consists of a citation, a medal, and a monetary award of $250,000. The prize is awarded by The Camille and Henry ...
* 2014 ACS Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry, shared with graduate student Livia S. Eberlin
* 2015 Member,
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
* 2017
Aston Medal
The Aston Medal is awarded by the British Mass Spectrometry Society to individuals who have worked in the United Kingdom and have made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the biological, chemical, engineering, mathematical, medical, o ...
,
British Mass Spectrometry Society
The British Mass Spectrometry Society is a registered charity founded in 1964 that encourages participation in every aspect of mass spectrometry. It aims to encourage participation in all aspects of mass spectrometry on the widest basis, to promo ...
See also
*
Desorption electrospray ionization
Desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) is an ambient ionization technique that can be coupled to mass spectrometry (MS) for chemical analysis of samples at atmospheric conditions. Coupled ionization sources-MS systems are popular in chemical an ...
*
MIKES
*
Orbitrap
In mass spectrometry, Orbitrap is an ion trap mass analyzer consisting of an outer barrel-like electrode and a coaxial inner spindle-like electrode that traps ions in an orbital motion around the spindle. The image current from the trapped ions is ...
References
External links
*
Aston Labs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooks, R. Graham
Living people
21st-century American chemists
Mass spectrometrists
Purdue University faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
Thomson Medal recipients
Annual Reviews (publisher) editors