Raymond B. Seymour
Monsanto Corporation
Inducted 1988
Raymond B. Seymour (1912 – 1991) was an American chemist responsible for many plastic material developments. He started his professional career with Goodyear Tire and Rubber in 1937, where he produced and patented their first synthetic plastic sold under the trade name Pliovic®. He then joined Atlas Minerals in 1939 as their Chief Chemist, where he developed and patented one of the first thermosetting plastic concretes. This filled furan composite was sold commercially as Alkor®. He also developed one of the first interpenetrating network plastics while at Atlas.
Seymour then joined the Monsanto Corporation as a group leader for plastics research in 1941. He developed and patented amorphous silica-filled thermoplastics for dentures and other composite applications there. He also developed Cadon®, one of the first engineering plastics and one of the first high-impact polystyrenes (HIPS). His research and development team developed Acrylan® acrylic fibers and techniques for commercializing styrene monomer and polystyrene.
In 1945, he became a Professor and Director of Research at the University of Chattanooga. He produced transparent sheets of methyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid ionomers for the Office of Naval Research. He converted the surface layer of these polymers to salts with improved resistance to abrasion. He also produced nylon-reinforced thermoset polyester composites with superior impact resistance for the Navy. In the late 1940s, he became Director of Research for Johnson and Johnson, where he directed the development of plastic body casts, polyvinyl chloride adhesive bandages, and RayTex® x-ray opaque PVC filaments adhered to surgical sponges. Returning to Atlas Minerals as Technical Director and President, he developed “simulated marble” (polyester concrete), which was used to construct chlorine dioxide bleaching towers in almost every American and Canadian paper mill. He also patented commercially reinforced plastic structures, root-resistant plastic pipe joints, and PVC tank linings.
Seymour eventually became a plastics and polymer educator. He started the plastics degree program at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, was a Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Sul Ross University, and Associate Director of Research and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Houston. After retirement from the University of Houston, Seymour was a Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Areas of Expertise:
Plastics materials