The Rubber Division, ACS began a program in 1964 of recording the oral histories of individuals that have made significant contributions to rubber science and technology. These individuals include scientists, engineers, publishers, and executives from both industry and academia. Also interviewed are important people from the publishing industry (Rubber & Plastics News, Rubber Age magazine) and the United Rubber Workers Union. Many of the individuals recorded in this series are recipients of the Charles Goodyear Medal, the highest scientific award given by the Division. The interviewees give an overview of their life and reflect on their achievements and legacy to the rubber industry.
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John M. Ball was Chairman of the Division of Rubber Chemistry of the American Chemical Society in 1955. Mr. Ball graduated from Cornell University in 1916 and worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He served with the Gas Defense Detachment of the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. During World War II he worked for the War Production Board. |
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Mr. Bastion worked for Firestone for 42 years (1910-1952) and witnessed many changes in the Rubber Industry and in Akron, Ohio. |
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Dr. Bekkedahl was Deputy Chief of Polymers Division at the Institute for Materials Research of the National Bureau of Standards. Dr. Bekkedahl was the 1967 Charles Goodyear Medalist for his work with the application of thermodynamics to natural rubber. |
John M. Bierer's Complete Interview in two segments
Segment 1 and Segment 2 |
John M. Bierer was Chairman of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1926. He worked for the Boston Woven Hose and Rubber Company for many years, starting as a Chemist and retiring as President. Mr. Bierer helped to invent the Bierer-Davis Oxygen Bomb which is an industry-wide standard test to determine the aging properties of rubber. |
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John T. Blake was a Charles Goodyear Medalist and organizer of the Boston Rubber Group. Dr. Blake, a graduate of Tufts University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was instrumental in the development of submarine cable and deproteinized rubber. |
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Ernest Bridgewater is credited with developing Neoprene while working for Dupont. Neoprene was the first successful synthetic rubber. Mr. Bridgewater attended the University of Akron but graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for B.F. Goodrich and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company before joining Dupont. In 1932, Mr. Bridgewater served as Chairman of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. |
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Chester Christensen served as an officer in the Division of Rubber Chemistry of the American Chemical Society for 18 years. |
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Dr. Albert Clifford graduated from the Ohio State University and was hired as an Organic Chemist for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Dr. Clifford worked on synthetic rubber in 1934. |
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Dr. Arnold Collins worked for DuPont and discovered a type of synthetic rubber in 1930. |
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Dr. Aubert Coran was the Editor of Rubber Chemistry and Technology and the 1995 Charles Goodyear Medalist. Dr. Coran worked for Monsanto. |
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Dr. Howard I. Cramer was born in Akron, Ohio and graduated from both the Western Reserve Academy and the University of Akron. He served as Secretary (1939-1947) and then as Chairman (1949) of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. |
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Dr. Bradley Dewey served as Chairman of the Boston Rubber Group in 1933 and 1934 and as President of the American Chemical Society in 1946. Dewey was President of Dewey and Almy, a chemical company in Boston, MA. In 1943, Dr. Dewey was appointed to the War Production Board as Rubber Director. |
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Dr. Ray Dinsmore worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and developed Chemigum, an early synthetic rubber. Dr. Dinsmore served as Chairman of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1927 and was named the 1955 Charles Goodyear Medalist. |
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J. Harvey Doering graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1913. He worked for DuPont and the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. He also assisted in the operation of the model tire manufacturing plant consturcted by the Ford Motor Company. |
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H.A. Ehrenfreund served as President of Tuxis Corporation. He graduated with a degree in Machanical Engineering from the University of Vermont. Over the course of his career, he was granted more than 70 patents on plastics, processes and refridgeration. |
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Per K Frolich was born in Norway and graduated from the the Massachussets Institute of Technology in 1925. He worked for the Standard Oil Development Corporation and Merk & Company Inc. He served as President of the American Chemical Society in 1943. |
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Benjamin Garvey worked for B.F. Goodrich and Pennsalt Chemicals Corporation. Dr. Garvey developed the "10 Gram Evaluation Process." In 1965, Dr. Garvey was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. |
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Samuel D. Gehman invented the low temperature twist test while working at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Gehman also served as an editor of Rubber and Chemical Technology. |
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Dr. Alan Gent served as Professor of Polymer Physics at the Univesity of Akron and later as Associate Director of the Institute of Polymer Science. He was awarded the 1990 Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. |
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Willis Gibbons served in World War I and was a member of the World War II Rubber Mission to the USSR. He worked in the Research and Development division of the United States Rubber Company. Dr. Gibbons also served as the first Chairman of the New York Rubber Group. |
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Harold Gray joined the B.F. Goodrich Company as a Research Chemist and was a Charter Member of the Akron section of the American Chemical Society. He also served as the Chairman of the Division of Rubber Chemistry in 1944. |
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Dr. Karl Grosch was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 2007 for his work on rubber friction and abrasion. Dr. Grosch was born in Germany and served during World War II as a German pilot. After his release as a prisioner of war, he remained in England for his education. |
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Nelson Goodyear was the great grandson of Charles Goodyear who is credited with discovering vulcanized rubber. This discovery led to the creation of the modern rubber industry. |
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Dr. Adel Halasa was born in Jordan and worked in Akron, Ohio for Firestone Tire & Rubber Company and later for the Goodyear Corporation. He holds more than 180 patents and in 1997 was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal from the American Chemical Society's Rubber Division. |
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Andrew Hale grew up in Akron, Ohio and served in the US Navy in World War I. He worked for Miller Rubber and Firestone Tire & Rubber Companies. In 1923, he started the Akron, Ohio sales office for Farrel-Birmingham, the makers of the Banbury Mixer. Mr. Hale was instrumental in the commercialization of the mixer which became a staple for the rubber industry. |
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Frank Herzegh was awarded the 1978 Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society for his work on the tubeless tire. Mr. Herzegh graduated from the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio and worked for many years for B. F. Goodrich. |
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William E. Kavenaugh, at the time of this inteview, was the oldest living member of the Division of Rubber Chemistry of ACS. Mr. Kavenaugh graduated from Harvard in 1908 after working in the fledging Rubber Industry with P.W. Litchfield. Kavenaugh came to Akron, Ohio and worked Goodyear for many years. He was also a member of the 1909 Akron Indians Football team. |
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Mr. Archie Kemp worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories for 30 years where he was a research chemist and group leader specializing in rubber and plastic electrical insulating materials. He was the chairman of the Rubber Division of ACS in 1938. |
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Jack Koenig was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 2000. He worked for DuPont as a research chemist and as a professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering. He has published more than 622 papers and 7 books. |
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Mr. LaPort was born in Akron, Ohio. He worked for Portage Rubber Company and for Seiberling Tire. He retired in 1968. |
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Norman R Legge was named the 1987 Charles Goodyear Medalist for his work on thermoplastic polymers. Dr. Legge worked in explosives research during World War II. Following the war he worked for Polymer Corporation in Canada and the Shell Development Corporation in California. |
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Melvin E. Lerner was born in France in 1910. His family immigrated to the United States when he was just one year old. Mr. Lerner was the editor of Rubber Age, an influential trade journal. Later Mel served as publisher and expanded the the publishing holdings to include other technical journals for related industries such as adhesives and plastics. |
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Dr. Mark was widely known as the "father of polymer science." His early work on focused on the crystal structure of natural rubber and other polymers in the late 1920s. He was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1988 and inducted into the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame in 1993. |
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Dr. James E. Mark is the 1999 Charles Goodyear Medalist. He has published more than 500 papers and is a member of the faculty of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. |
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Professor Marvel was born in Waynesville Illinois and studied chemistry at Illinois Wesleyan University and the University of Chicago. He served as President of the American Chemical Society in 1945. He has been called the “Father of Synthetic Polymer Chemistry.” Dr. Carlin Gibbs speaks about Professor Marvel near the end of the recording. |
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Melvin Mooney's Complete Interview in two segments
Segment 1 and Segment 2 |
Dr. Mooney was a physicist born in Missouri and the inventor of the Mooney viscometer, a tool to measure the plasticity of rubber. He served in the Chemical Warfare Division of the US Army during World War I and worked for US Rubber until his retirement in 1958. In 1971, he was inducted into the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame and awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1962. |
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Dr. Morton (1913-1994) was born in Latvia and grew up in Canada and studied at McGill University in Montreal. He served as the Assistant Director and later as Director of Rubber Research at the University of Akron. He authored Introduction to Rubber Technology and many other books. Dr. Morton was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1985. |
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Dr. Leonard Mullins was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1966 by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. He was elected to the Rubber Science Hall of Fame in 2001. |
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Mr. Murphy was known as the “father of latex rubber.” Edward Murphy was awarded the 1986 Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society. |
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M. G. "Jerry" O'Neil was the son of William O'Neil, the founder of General Tire. Jerry served as President of GenCorp (formerly Gneral Tire). |
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Mr. O’Connor worked for Harwick Chemical and served as the Rubber Division Secretary from 1970 through 1972. He served as Chairman in 1974. Mr. Graph served as the Treasurer of the Rubber Division from 1973 through 1975. |
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James Schade was a charter member of the Rubber Chemistry Section in 1909 and served as the first director of the Rubber Technical Institute at the University of Akron in 1942. He also worked as the Director of Research for the B.F. Goodrich Company. |
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Adolf Schallamach's Complete Interview |
Adolf Schallamach was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1982. He was inducted the International Rubber Hall of Fame in 1998. |
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Herman Schroeder was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1984. Dr. Schroeder worked for DuPont and was a pioneer in the development of specialty elastomers. |
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Dr. Sebrell attended Mount Union College the Ohio State University. He served in the Chemical Warfare Division during World War I and later worked for Goodyear. In 1933, he served as Chairman of the Rubber Division, ACS. He was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1942. |
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Dr. Waldo L. Semon retired in 1963 as the Director of Polymer Research at the B.F. Goodrich Company. He was the the 1944 Goodyear Medalist and was granted more than 115 U.S. patents. |
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J. Reid Shelton was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1983. D. Shelton served as Professor Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio when he retired in 1977. |
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Dr. Shephard worked as a chemistry professor at Yale University before he moved to Akron, Ohio to work at Firestone. During this time he served as Chairman of the Rubber Division (1936). Norman Shephard also served as the director of technical services at American Cyanamid and he worked on the Rubber Research Program during World War II. |
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Mr. Shively worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company from 1915 to 1960. He retired as Director of Tire Engineering. |
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Mr. Shoaff worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Sumatra as the Manager of Development and Resident Director of Goodyear Plantations. He later managed the world’s largest synthetic rubber plant which was in Houston, Texas. Shoaff was one of the original members of the Akron Rubber Group. |
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Arnold Smith served as Secretary of the Rubber Division from 1919 to 1928. During this time, he worked at the U.S. Bureau of Standards, Goodyear and Rubber Services Laboratory. He also served as Chairman in 1929. During these formative years, Mr. Smith’s leadership was instrumental in the division’s growth and development. |
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William Sparks is well known for his work in developing butyl rubber. He served as the Chairman of the Rubber Division in 1960 when he worked for Esso Research and Engineering and as President of the American Chemical Society in 1966. He was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1963 and the Sparks-Thomas Award was named for him. William Sparks was inducted into the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame in 1999. |
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Frederick Stavely is well known for his work in developing “coral rubber.” Dr. Stavely served as Chairman of the Rubber Division in 1950 when he worked at Firestone. He was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division in 1972. |
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Mr. Stringfield helped to organize the Los Angeles Group of the Rubber Division in 1928 and served as its first President. He worked as Chief Chemist in the Los Angeles office of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. |
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E.J. Thomas started working for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company at the age of 17. He retired nearly 50 years later as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr Thomas was born in Akron, Ohio and attended Central High School before serving in the Army during World War I. |
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Mr. Thomas is well known for his work in developing butyl rubber. He was awarded the Goodyear Medal by the Rubber Division in 1969. The Sparks-Thomas Award established in 1986, is named for him and he was inducted into the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame in 1999. |
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Harlan L. Trumbull's Interview in two segments
Segment 1 and Segment 2
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Dr. Trumbull served as Chairman of the Rubber Division in 1937 when worked at B.F. Goodrich. Following World War II, Trumbull served as research section chief for the Research and Development Branch within the Office of Rubber Reserve and visited Germany to investigate their use of Buna S (one of the first synthetic rubbers). |
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William Weigand was an original member of the India Rubber Section and one of the founding fathers of the Rubber Division. He served as the Chairman of the Rubber Division in 1923 when he worked at Ames Holden. He also served as Research Director at Columbia Carbon and in 1960 was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal. |
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George S. Whitby served as the head of the rubber laboratory at the University of Akron and for many years was the only person who taught rubber chemistry in the United States. Whitby was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1954 and in 1972 he was inducted into the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame. In 1986 the Rubber Division established the George Stafford Whitby Award in his honor. |
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Ernie Zielasko was a rubber industry journalist and recipient of the Division’s Distinguished Service Award in 1985. He worked for B.F. Goodrich (public relations), Rubber World and Modern Tire Dealer magazines . He founded Rubber and Plastics News. |
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