Kline, Gordon M. (Gordon Mabey), 1903-1996

Gordon M. Kline was born in Trenton, N.J., on February 9, 1903. After graduating from the local public high school he attended Colgate University, George Washington University, and the University of Maryland from which he received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1934.

In 1929 Kline began working at the Plastics Section of the National Bureau of Standards. He became Chief of the Technical Division in 1935. The next year he was named technical editor of MODERN PLASTICS, the industry's major trade journal. During the 1930s, when the plastics industry was still in its infancy, Kline recognized the need for developing specification and testing methods so that this new material could be mass produced. Working closely with the Society for the Plastics Industry, the American Society for Testing Materials, and the International Standards Organization, he and his colleagues at the National Bureau of Standards developed the first widely accepted set of commercial standards for the plastics industry. In 1942, at the request of the British Ministry Supply, Kline was sent to Great Britain to advise plastic manufacturers about possible military applications for this new material. In 1945 he served as a technical investigator for the U.S. Army in Germany, visiting major plastic plants and compiling reports on German technological developments.

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