M. Bonner Denton received his Bachelor of Science–Chemistry and Bachelor of Arts-Psychology degrees in 1967 from Lamar State College of Technology and his Ph.D. - Chemistry in 1972 from the University of Illinois.  Today Denton is a Galileo Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Arizona.  Research interests include analytical instrumentation, optical spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, separation science, scientific imaging and forensic analysis.  Over the years Denton and his group have developed methodologies that are today widely used in chemical analysis.  He pioneered the development of high resolution array detector technology for both ultra-sensitive spectroscopic analysis and microscopic imaging.  The high performance achievable in modern Raman, Fluorescence and Atomic Emission Spectroscopies, is directly traceable to contributions made by Denton and his research group.  Currently Denton is applying new advanced detector innovations leading to the development of ultra-trace level explosives detection instrumentation capable of detecting small quantities of explosives at over forty meters standoff distances, and to new detector technology for simultaneous ion detection.  Denton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry; Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy; and Fellow of the American Chemical Society.  He has published over 200 peer reviewed publications and holds 12 patents in the field of chemical instrumentation.