Georges Guiochon: Chromatography Pioneer Passes Away Aged 83

Professor Georges Guiochon, Distinguished Professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA, sadly passed away last week on October 21st 2014 at the age of 83. Professor Guiochon was a famous and flamboyant figure in the chromatography community with a prolific output that led to a deeper understanding of the separation mechanisms involved in chromatography.

Guiochon’s research interests encompassed chromatographic theory, instrumentation and applications, and the problems of physical chemistry related to chromatography, which investigated solution and adsorption thermodynamics, mass and energy transfers, and the consolidation of beds in particles.

He was famous for developing the theory behind non-linear chromatography and its applications in gas, liquid, and supercritical chromatography. He published five books, more than 1100 scientific papers in peer‑reviewed journals, and organized an array of successful scientific meetings.

Guiochon was constantly in the spotlight receiving awards and honours from the most revered institutes and societies, including: the Tsvett Medal from Advances in Chromatography (1976); the Stephen Dal Nogare Award (Chromatography Forum of the Delaware Valley, 1977); the Silver Medal of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris, France, 1978); the Tswett Memorial Medal (Academy of Sciences of URSS, 1978); the A.J.P. Martin Award (Chromatographic Society, UK, 1980); the ACS Awards in Separation Sciences (1991) and in Chromatography (1998); the Alexander von Humboldt Award to Senior American Scientists (1994); the Istvan Halasz Award of the Hungarian Society of Separation Sciences (Siofok, 2000); a JSPS Fellowship for Research in Japan (2002); and LCGC’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2010).

He obtained his Master’s Degree in Engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris (France) and worked in a variety of prestigious universities before settling at the University of Tennessee(Knoxville, USA), where he held the post of Distinguished Professor within the Department of Chemistry, as well as the position of Senior Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Division of Chemical Sciences).

Guiochon also held honourary PhD degrees from the Technical University in Budapest (Hungary, 1982); the University of Pardubice (Czech Republic, 1999); the University Ramon Llull (Barcelona, Spain, 2002); and the University of Ferrara (Italy, 2003).

The name Georges Guiochon needed no introduction at conferences and his colourful personality, passion for science, and continuous contribution to our understanding of chromatography will be deeply missed by everyone in the chromatography community.