James Jorgenson

James Wallace Jorgenson is an American academic who previously held the position of William Rand Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is best known for his work developing capillary zone electrophoresis, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Early life and education Jorgenson was born on September 9, 1952, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Northern Illinois University in 1974 and a PhD in chemistry from Indiana University in 1979. Research interests Jorgenson's research group is focused on utilizing analytical separation techniques to solve research problems in complex mixture analysis. The group currently focuses on ultra-high pressure capillary liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (MS). Jorgenson's research group is best known for their breakthrough in the field of separation sciences, the invention of capillary electrophoresis (CE). He began his research at UNC Chapel Hill studying electro-osmotically driven chromatography. The development of CE has aided in the advancement of many fields of science, including DNA sequencing, forensic DNA analysis and analysis of intact proteins. CE technology enabled completion of the sequencing of the human genome far ahead of the expected schedule and far below anticipated cost.