Jaap J. Boon (1947) was trained in Geology and Chemistry at the Universities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Delft Technical University. The subject of his PhD thesis was Molecular Geochemistry of Lipids in Sedimentary Environments (Delft, 1978). Postdoctoral studies took place in marine experimental biology at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Texel, NL) and on cyanobacterial ecosystems and their fossil remains at the Biomedical and Environmental Research Facility of Prof Dr A.L. Burlingame at the University of California Berkeley and San Francisco (USA). Boon started in 1983 as research associate in the FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF) to study the preservation of plant organic matter in aquatic and marine environments with a strong focus on the characterisation of particulate matter using pyrolysis mass spectrometry. Boon became Head of Molecular Physics at AMOLF in 1987 and Professor of Molecular Palaeobotany at the University of Amsterdam in 1988. The research focus gradually changed to mass spectrometer instrument development (DTMS, FTMS, LDI-MS) and analysis of polymer systems in 1990. First survey studies on painting materials and traditional paints were performed in 1991, which resulted in collaborative research with Tate Gallery London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Limburg Conservation Studio (SRAL) in Maastricht and EU supported development projects. Boon masterminded the NWO Priority Project MOLART (Molecular aspects of ageing in art) granted in 1995, which made it possible to start several molecular level studies on the chemical processes in paintings. After 10 PhD studies in MOLART (1995-2002) on various fundamental aspects of the composition and ageing processes in paintings, 7 new studies were developed in the framework of the De Mayerne Program (2002-2006). His research focus changed gradually from identification of constituents towards chemical microscopy and spectroscopic imaging of pigments, binding media and their interactions in paintings. Boon was Professor of Analytical Mass Spectrometry in the University of Amsterdam from 2003 till 2009. He is presently author/coauthor of about 400 research papers and supervised 33 PhD theses. Boon received the KNAW Gilles Holst Gold Medal for his innovative work at the cross roads of chemistry and physics in 2007.