Gerhard Knothe obtained M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry at the University of Bremen, Germany. After a brief postdoctoral appointment, he has been affiliated with the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Peoria, IL, since 1989. Over the years, his research has focused on vegetable oil-derived diesel fuels (biodiesel) and some oleochemistry, which has included the use of NMR and MS. He has more than 80 publications to his credit and is scheduled to receive the Industrial Uses of Soybeans Award sponsored by the USB/AOCS. He edited (together with two co-editors) The Biodiesel Handbook. He lectures in courses on biodiesel.