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Scientific Biographies

Science is a human pursuit. Meet some of the people who have contributed to the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences.
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Stephanie L. Kwolek

In a polymer research lab at DuPont, Kwolek discovered the super fiber known as Kevlar.

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Stephanie Kwolek at a polarizing microscope.
DuPont; gift of Stephanie Kwolek

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Arnold O. Beckman
1900 - 2004
St. Elmo Brady in a chemistry lab at Fisk University. He is pouring a liquid from one beaker into another. There are counters of lab equipment surrounding him.
St. Elmo Brady
1884 - 1966
Black and white photo of Cain in a suit and tie
Gordon A. Cain
1912 - 2002
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
1907 - 1964
Nancy Chang
b. 1950
Uma Chowdhry wearing green shawl and glasses, hand on a rail, cherry blossoms in background
Uma Chowdhry
1947 - 2024
A person with white hair and a beard is wearing a suit, with framed certificates on the wall behind.
Carl Djerassi
1923 - 2015
The Frees wearing lab coats and standing in a research lab. Alfred holds what seems to be an animal test subject while Helen injects something.
Helen M. Free
1923 - 2021
Mary Lowe Good
1931 - 2019
Robert W. Gore
1937 - 2020
black and white photo of an older woman wearing glasses
Kathryn C. “Kitty” Hach-Darrow
1922 - 2020
Paula Hammond in her lab at MIT.
Paula Hammond
b. 1963
alan heeger photo
Alan J. Heeger
b. 1936
drawing of a man in a hat
Francisco Hernández
1515 - 1587
photo of older man wearing glasses
Roald Hoffmann
b. 1937
Dr. Percy Lavon in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, stands in front of vertical striped wallpaper.
Percy Lavon Julian
1899 - 1975
Stephanie L. Kwolek
1923 - 2014
Ralph Landau
1916 - 2004
Robert S. Langer
b. 1948
Alan MacDiarmid
Alan MacDiarmid
1927 - 2007
Russell Earl Marker
1902 - 1995
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
b. 1953
Gordon E. Moore
1929 - 2023
A professional portrait of Donald Othmer as a young man, wearing a suit and tie.
Donald F. Othmer
1904 - 1995
black and white photo of a man in a lab
Robert W. Parry
1917 - 2006
Louis Pasteur
1822 - 1895
Linus Carl Pauling
1901 - 1994
Roy J. Plunkett
1910 - 1994
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