Answer by Gage for This code returns distinct values. However, what I want is to return a strongly typed collection as opposed to an anonymous type

Either do as dlev suggested or use:

var foo = (from data in pivotedData.AsEnumerable()               select new BarObject               {                 Group = data.Field<string>("Group_Number"),                 Study = data.Field<string>("Study_Name")               }).GroupBy(x=>x.Group).Select(x=>x.FirstOrDefault())

Check this out for more info http://blog.jordanterrell.com/post/LINQ-Distinct()-does-not-work-as-expected.aspx