Flory, Paul John

American chemist.

Flory was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1974. Born in Illinois in 1910, he attended Manchester college and did graduate work at Ohio State University, earning his Ph. D in 1934. Flory went to work for the Dupont Company in the Central Research Department where he worked for Dr. Wallace Carothers. Following the death of Carothers in 1937, Flory joined the University of Cincinnati's Basic Science Research Laboratory. In 1940 he worked for the Standard Oil Development Company. He worked on synthesizing a substitute for natural rubber. In 1943 he moved to the Research Laboratory of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. He taught at Cornell University from 1948-1957 when he became executive director of the Mellon Institute. In 1961, he worked at Stanford University where he remained until his retirement.