Brian Bidlingmeyer

Dr. Brian Arthur Bidlingmeyer of Frazer, Pennsylvania, and a former Hopkinton resident, passed away April 1, 2026, at Paoli Hospital, surrounded by his loving family.

A leading scientist in the field of separations, Brian made significant and lasting contributions, particularly to the practice and understanding of modern high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Brian was born Aug. 8, 1944, in Dallas, the eldest son of the late Arthur Henry Bidlingmeyer and the late Edna Louise (Spangenberg) Bidlingmeyer. Brian grew up in Cincinnati, where he attended Oak Hills High School. Brian earned his B.A. from Kenyon College cum laude with honors in chemistry. A dedicated student athlete, he played basketball and baseball and ran track. Brian earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from Purdue University under professor L.B. Rogers. He was the first student ever to do ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography as his thesis work. At Purdue, he met his wife, Ursula Ann DeVonis; they married in 1972.

Brian worked for Amoco Chemicals as a research chemist, then for Waters Associates, where he eventually became vice president and technical director for Waters Chromatography Division of Millipore Corporation. Brian then co-founded Cohesive Technologies, where he introduced novel column technologies. He then joined Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals as an assistant director, next Rockland Technologies and later Hewlett Packard/Agilent, where he continued his work with the company’s separation products business unit, developing new columns and applications. After retirement, Brian continued research and consulting with his company Analytical Acumen.

Brian authored over 100 technical papers, served as editor and columnist for major scientific publications, and authored two books — one on practical HPLC and the other on preparative chromatography. Brian’s honors include the Millipore Innovation Award, the International Ion Chromatography Award, the Eastern Analytical Symposium Award for Outstanding Achievements in Separation Science, and the the prestigious international Heinrich Emmanual Merck Prize. The development of an innovative procedure for rapid amino acid analysis was named by Science magazine as the first major improvement to this analysis type in over 25 years and won Brian an Industrial Research Magazine IR 100 Award. Brian is also among the few selected as fellows of the American Chemical Society.

A well-known lecturer and course organizer, Brian trained thousands of professionals and students. He developed and presented courses for groups such as the American Chemical Society, the Chicago Chromatography Discussion Group, the Center for Professional Advancement, and regional analytical associations. Brian was a member of the national Chemistry fraternity Alpha Sigma Chi, scientific fraternity Phi Lambda Upsilon, member of the American Chemical Society (as well as co-founder and chair of the ACS subdivision of Separation and Purification), and the American Society for Testing and Materials. Locally Brian was member of the Chromatography Forum of Delaware Valley, serving at times as secretary, program chair, and president, and of the Eastern Analytical Symposium, where he served on the Board and the Executive Board.

In his free time, Brian enjoyed mentoring young chemists and volunteering. A committed conservationist, Brian served on the Conservation Commission in Hopkinton. He created a scholarship at his alma mater Kenyon College for freshmen students pursuing a major in chemistry. Brian enjoyed summer vacations with his family at Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire, at Hueston Woods State Park in Ohio, and on Cape Cod. A loving and devoted father, Brian encouraged a love for learning, sports, the environment and the arts in his children. Brian loved running, competition, reffing and coaching community athletics, cultural, historical and nature outings, and photography.

Brian is survived by his wife, Ursula; their children, Lisa, Brian Jr. (“Bart,” wife: Nicolette) and Derrick (Emily); grandsons Ottomar and Oliver and granddaughters Reynar and Ivy. Brian was preceded in death by his brother, Robert, and survived by Robert’s wife, Margaret (“Peggy”), their children, Jennifer (Robert) and Matthew (Jennifer), and Jennifer and Robert’s children, Alex and Louis.

Brian will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered.

A memorial service is being planned for a future date.

Contributions may be made in his memory to the Bidlingmeyer Family Scholarship in Chemistry at Kenyon College by mail at Kenyon College Advancement Office, 105 Chase Avenue, Gambier, OH 43022. Please indicate Bidlingmeyer Scholarship in the memo line, with check made out to Kenyon College. Contributions can be made online at advancement.kenyon.edu/register/give (select “Other” in the “Designation” dropdown menu and type Bidlingmeyer Scholarship in the field below).

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