Thomas Annesley

Growing up in Minnesota, Thomas Annesley wanted to be marine biologist.  His mother refused to let him attend the University of Hawaii, stating “If I put you on a plane to Hawaii I will never see you again.”  So he decided to study chemistry at a liberal arts college in Minnesota, during which time he blew up part of a laboratory.  He switched his interest from working with chemicals to working with instruments, and finally ended up as a leading expert in the field of clinical mass spectrometry. During his 31-year career as a faculty member at the University of Michigan, he recognized that 1) people write science poorly, and 2) there were few resources to educate people in scientific writing.  So he focused on developing courses, workshops, articles and books on how to write scientific papers.  His articles have been translated into six languages.