Ray H. Boundy

Ray Boundy begins his interview by describing his family background in western Pennsylvania, his grammar school experience and his college studies at Grove City College. He then studied chemical engineering at Case Institute of Technology where there was a strong interaction with the Dow Chemical Company. Before Boundy had completed his degree at Case he met Herbert Dow who offered a position in the Midland laboratories. Starting in the analytical laboratory, Ray Boundy moved to the productive physics group headed by John Grebe. After describing his involvement with early Dow projects, such as the seawater bromine process, sodium electrical conductors, electrolytic chlorine production and applications for ferric chloride, Boundy briefly reviews the work on styrene polymerization, monomer purity and wartime production. At the end of the hostilities in the European sector, Boundy joined a team of experts sent over to assess the German chemical industry. Postwar, Boundy had responsibility for plastics at Dow before his promotion to research director. In conclusion, he reflects on the changing nature of research in the chemical industry.

Dow Chemical Company

1926 - 1930 Scientist, Physics Laboratory

Dow Chemical Company

1930 - 1942 Assistant Director, Physics Laboratory

Dow Chemical Company

1942 - 1950 Assistant to the President

Dow Chemical Company

1950 - 1968 Vice-President and Director of Research

Dow Chemical Company

1968 Consultant, Management of Research and Development

James J. Bohning

James J. Bohning is professor emeritus of chemistry at Wilkes University, where he was a faculty member from 1959 to 1990. He served there as chemistry department chair from 1970 to 1986 and environmental science department chair from 1987 to 1990. Bohning was chair of the American Chemical Society’s Division of the History of Chemistry in 1986; he received the division’s Outstanding Paper Award in 1989 and has presented more than forty papers at national meetings of the society. Bohning was on the advisory committee of the society’s National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program from its inception in 1992 through 2001 and is currently a consultant to the committee. He developed the oral history program of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and he was the foundation’s director of oral history from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Bohning was a science writer for the News Service group of the American Chemical Society. He is currently a visiting research scientist and CESAR Fellow at Lehigh University. In May 2005, he received the Joseph Priestley Service Award from the Susquehanna Valley Section of the American Chemical Society.