Paul J. Flory
DuPont Chemical Company
Inducted 1979
Paul J. Flory (1910 – 1985) was the Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner in 1974. He contributed outstanding research on the composition and properties of substances composed of “giant” molecules, primarily plastics, rubbers, and fibers, all comprised of polymeric materials. His research in polymeric materials has been essential to the growth of the plastics industry.
Flory was born in Sterling, Illinois. He graduated from Elgin High School in Elgin, Illinois, in 1927. He received a bachelor’s degree from Manchester College, North Manchester, Indiana, in 1931 and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in 1934. From 1934 to 1938, Flory was engaged in basic research on synthetic fibers, rubber, and other polymeric substances at the E.I. DuPont Experimental Station. There, he worked in a group with Wallace H. Carothers on the origins of nylon.
He worked at the University of Cincinnati for the next two years. From 1940 until 1943, he worked with Standard Oil Development Company, where he began researching polymers and synthetic rubber properties. In 1948, he joined Cornell University as a professor of chemistry, where he taught and conducted research with postdoctoral students. In 1956, Flory was named executive director of research at the prestigious Mellon Institute until 1961, when he was appointed a professor of chemistry at Stanford University.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Flory received many other honors, including Ohio State University’s Sullivan Medal (1954), the American Chemistry Society’s Baekeland Award (1947), the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry (1968), the Gibbs Medal (1973), the Priestley Medal (1974), the Franklin Institute Cresson Medal (1971), and the National Medal of Science (1974).
His many publications include two books: Principles of Polymer Chemistry (Cornell University Press, 1953) and Statistical Mechanics of Chain Molecules (Interscience Publishers, 1969).
Areas of Expertise:
Plastic materials
Related Links:
Paul Flory’s autobiography, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1974/flory-autobio.html
Paul Flory’s article in Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Flory