A Brief History of the Connecticut Separation Science Council

The roots of the Connecticut Separation Science Council date to 1982 at Yale University. It was then that Professor Csaba Horváth of Yale and Dr. Leslie S. Ettre of Perkin-Elmer Corporation conceived of a regional professional society dedicated to the advancement of the art and science of chromatography. Thereby, the Connecticut Chromatography Council (CCC) was founded. The first symposium, "CCC '83", was held at Yale University and hosted 200 attendees. In the following year, the CCC served as the sponsoring organization for "HPLC '84", held in New York with about 1100 in attendance.

In 1988, the organization was re-incorporated as the New England Chromatography Council (NECC). In 1992, the NECC held its third symposium "Chromatography for the Nineties and Beyond" in Danbury, Connecticut, hosting 200 attendees. In 1998, while still remaining legally incorporated as the New England Chromatography Council, a subsidiary organization known as the Connecticut Separation Science Council (CSSC) was formed. The purpose of this name change was two-fold: to distinguish our organization from a new group that organized in the Boston area, the Central New England Chromatography Council (CNECC), and to reflect our broadened scope, which encompasses all the separation sciences.

Later that year, the organization held its fourth symposium, "CSSC '98" in Danbury, Connecticut, with 150 attendees.  In January 2000, with the mutual agreement of all parties, the Capillary Electrophorisis Society of New England (CESONE) merged with the NECC/CSSC.  Also in January 2004, the CSSC established "The CSSC Csaba Horváth Medal...to be awarded to a recognized person in the separation science field whose work has exemplified and will continue to provide for the advancement of separation science in the future."

In April 2004, CSSC 2004 was held in Montville Connecticut with over 200 people in attendance.  The symposium, the CSSC's fifth, featured two technical sessions, lunch, and a poster and vendor exposition.  The keynote speaker, Prof. Phyllis Brown, was awarded the 2004 CSSC Csaba Horváth Medal at the symposium.   Sadly, Prof. Csaba Horváth passed away less than a month before CSSC 2004.  Both technical sessions at CSSC 2004 were held in Csaba's honor.  Also, the CSSC offered a scholarship for the best academic poster presented at the symposium in memory of Thomas C. Warren, a CSSC Board Member who tragically died in a motorcycle accident in July 2003.   

Today, the CSSC maintains a mailing list of scientists throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts who are interested in all forms of separation science.  The CSSC holds monthly meetings throughout Connecticut, as well as holds joint meetings with similar organizations in the area. This website was launched by the CSSC in 2002 to help our members and separation scientists everywhere learn about and participate in our society.