Edgar Lambert Piret was born in 1910 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1932 and Ph.D. in 1937 in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He also earned a doctorate in biochemistry and bacteriology from the University of Lyons, France in 1936. Dr. Piret was a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota from 1949 to 1955. He also served as a consultant to 3M from 1945 to 1965 and as science attaché and counselor for scientific affairs at the United States Embassy in Paris (1965-1976).
Dr. Piret's research was broad. He developed Scotchlite Bead, a product used to make highway signs reflective; developed the food processing practice that created K-Rations; found that combining peat with an alkali solution would create an excellent binder for powdered taconite concentrate; and worked with oceanography, environment, medicine, space and astronomy programs while at the U.S. Embassy in Paris. Edgar Piret died in October 1987.
From the guide to the Edgar L. Piret papers, 1937-1956, (University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc])
