Stine, Charles M. A. (Charles Milton Altland), 1882-1954

Charles M. A. Stine was one of the leading research chemists employed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (1907-1945). From 1930 to his retirement, he was a vice president and one of the principal officers entrusted with organizing and overseeing the company's research and development programs.

Charles Milton Altland Stine was born in Norwich, Conn., on October 18, 1882. He graduated from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania in 1901, and received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1907. That year he went to work for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. as a supervisor in its Eastern Laboratory at Gibbstown, N.J. In 1909 he headed the company's industrial organic chemical research. In 1919 he was appointed assistant director of the Chemical Department, and chemical director in 1924. In 1930 he was elected to the company's board of directors and was made vice president and member of the executive committee, advising on all Du Pont research and development. He held these positions until he retired in 1945. Within the Du Pont Company, Stine was a forceful advocate for fundamental research and he headed the fundamental research program which produced breakthroughs in textile fibers and led to the discovery of nylon. He died in Wilmington, Delaware in 1954.