Dr. Lee N. Polite is the president and founder of Axion Analytical Labs, Inc. Since its inception in 1995, Axion has provided in-depth chromatography training to every major pharmaceutical, chemical, and petroleum company in the US along with all leading government labs. Lee has been teaching chromatography to professionals for more than 30 years. He has been invited to lecture on the topic in 17 countries and has trained more than 13,000 professionals. Dr. Polite earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry (Chromatography) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) where he worked under the direction of Professor Harold McNair. Dr. McNair is recognized as one of the premier chromatography professors in the world and one of the pioneers in the field. In addition to his technical degrees, Lee holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management where he majored in both strategy and marketing.

Prior to receiving his advanced degrees, Dr. Polite received his Bachelor of Arts Degree (BA) in Chemistry from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he was a Rector Scholar and a member of Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics honor society) and Sigma Xi (Chemistry honor society). After receiving his Ph.D., Lee spent 9 years with Amoco Corporation holding a variety of scientific and management positions including Research Scientist, HPLC Team Leader, Group Leader of Environmental Analysis, and Laboratory Supervisor of one of the largest refinery labs in the US.

Lee has served as the National Chromatography Instructor for the American Chemical Society since 1991. He has also taught chromatography for the DEA, United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the New York City Police Department’s crime laboratory, DOE’s Argonne National Labs, Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, Phenomenex, etc. Dr. Polite has authored countless professional course books on chromatography, a number of publications, and three book chapters on Chromatography.