About the author BRIAN A. BIDLINGMEYER is a leading scientist in the field of liquid chromatography in which he has been active for over 20 years. He has published over 55 technical papers in the field and has made significant contributions in numerous areas. His wide ranging research into practical applications has included understanding the mechanism of ion pairing and surfactant containing mobile phases, fundamental studies into the role of bonding and pore size on protein separations, developing new methods and columns for the analysis of fatty acids and triglycerides, developing novel polymer and small molecule GPC separations, improving analysis of amino acids using derivatization techniques, identifying the use of bare silica gel for the reverse phase separation of amine containing molecules, simplifying direct analysis of drugs in serum, developing approaches for the optimization of chromatographic separations, and developing guidelines for preparative separations. As a result of his pioneering work, Dr. Bidlingmeyer has received numerous awards. He is a recipient of the Heinrich Emmanual Merck Award for contributions to analytical chemistry, the International Ion Chromatography Forum's Award for outstanding contributions to that field, an IR 100 Award for the development of a new method for amino acid analysis ("Pico-Tag" Method) and the Millipore Innovation Award for outstanding scientific contributions to the company. He also has won a Massachusetts Center for Excellence Corporation (MCEC) Grant for the development of a novel sample preparation device for sea water and received an award for outstanding service from the Western Carolinas Chromatography Discussion Group. Dr. Bidlingmeyer received his PhD in analytical chemistry from Purdue University studying under Dr. L. B. Rogers. He has served on numerous scientific councils, organization committees, and advisory boards. He is presently an Associate Editor and Contributing Editor for the Journal of Chromatographic Science, on the editorial advisory board of Frescnius' Zietschift for Analytical Chemistry (Germany), LC/GC and Preparative Chromatography.