William E. Hanford

William Hanford begins the interview with a discussion of the importance of teamwork and the influence of Roger Adams in his career. He then continues on to his family background and youth. His high school chemistry teacher and his uncle both encouraged his interest in the sciences. After graduating from Bristol High School, he attended the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, where he earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1930. Hanford then took a position as an analytical chemist at Rohm and Haas, but soon decided to attend graduate school. He accepted an offer from the University of Illinois, and studied with Roger Adams. He worked on various problems in the laboratory, and got to know many members of the department, including Carl Marvel, Reynold Fuson, and Ralph Shriner. After earning his Ph.D. in 1935, he took a job with DuPont, working in Experimental Station. He worked on producing isothiocyanate and polymerizing caprolactam. Hanford was also involved with Teflon, polyamides, and polyesters. In 1942, he moved to GAF, where he worked on Glim, the first liquid detergent. Hanford then moved to M.W. Kellogg Company in 1946. He helped to develop KEL-F and sold it to 3M before moving again to Olin Corporation in 1957. At Olin, he worked on Head and Shoulders, carpet backing, and plastic shotgun shells, among other products. Hanford concludes the interview with a discussion of teamwork, his family, his experience with urethane, and his induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Rohm and Haas Company

1930 - 1931 Analytical Chemist

University of Illinois

1932 - 1935 Assistant Chemist

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

1935 - 1936 Research Chemist

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

1936 - 1942 Group Leader

General Aniline & Film Corporation (GAF)

1942 - 1946 Director of Research

M. W. Kellogg Company

1946 - 1947 Technical Consultant

M. W. Kellogg Company

1948 - 1950 Director, Petroleum and Chemical Research

M. W. Kellogg Company

1950 - 1957 Vice President, Director of Research, and Member of the Board of Directors

Olin Corporation

1957 - 1957 Assistant to the President

Olin Corporation

1957 - 1973 Vice President, Research and Development

World Water Resources, Inc.

1973 - 1985 Consultant

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.