Age was just a number: John B Fenn

John B Fenn was born in 1917. He was working in the Chemistry department of Yale University and retired in 1987 at 70.

He thought he was fully active at 70. The University by force retiring him is depriving him from using the state of the art labs of the university where his prime period of life was spent. But the university remained firm on its age of retirement policy.

_The dispute went into a law suit between John Fenn and the Yale, where of course Yale won the case. Fenn had to leave the campus._

Subsequently, Fenn was accepted by *Virginia Commons University* that did not mind his age. Here he published his paper in 1991. He was 74 at that time. This paper won the 2002 Nobel in Chemistry.
So the Nobel goes to Virginia Commons University not to Yale.

John B Fenn has own the 2002 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the age of 85 years. He wrote his Nobel winning paper in 1991. He was already 74 by that time and was a good 4 years since he was force retired from Yale against his wish.

“Age is but a number,
a mere tally of years,
for the spirit knows no bounds
and the heart remains forever young.”