Schroeder, H. E.

H. E. Schroeder was a research chemist who spent most of his career with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company.

Herman Elbert Schroeder was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 6, 1915. He attended Brooklyn's well-known Polytechnic Preparatory Country Day School and completed all of his college studies at Harvard, receiving his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1939. He joined DuPont in 1938 and rose to become Director of Research and Development (1963-1980), specializing in the fields of synthetic rubber and plastics. During this period, he received 37 patents and published 40 papers.

After retirement, Schroeder served as a consultant to several major museums on the chemical aspects of art conservation, as well as being an industrial consultant and lecturer. He received the Charles Goodyear Medal of the American Chemical Society and the Lavoisier Medal for research leadership from DuPont. He died at the Stonegates retirement home in Greenville, Del. on November 28, 2009.