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Uma Chowdhry was born in Mumbai, India, in 1947, the year her home country became independent from Great Britain. Her family valued education. She first became interested in science in high school and studied physics at the University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai), graduating with a bachelor of science degree in 1968. She then moved to the United States, hoping to study nuclear physics in graduate school, but two people got her hooked on chemistry. One was her future husband, chemist Vinay Chowdhry, whose enthusiasm for chemistry eventually rubbed off on her. The other was Pol Duwez, a materials chemist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she was earning her master's degree in engineering. After graduating from Caltech in 1970, she worked at the Ford Motor Company for a short time and then went on to earn a Ph.D. in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976.
In 1977 Chowdhry went to work at DuPont in their main labs in Wilmington, Delaware, where she became involved in many different research projects. One of the earliest projects studied better ways to make a compound called tetrahydrofuran, or THF, a common laboratory solvent used a lot in industry. Later she did research on ceramics—materials like porcelain and china that are chemically very similar to glass. Ceramics do not normally conduct electricity and in fact are often used as insulators in electric gadgets. Chowdhry was able to use some clever chemistry to make ceramics that conduct electricity; moreover, she was able to make ceramics that conduct electricity even better than metals do. Such materials are called superconductors, and they have many potential uses in computers, batteries, and other electrical devices.
Eventually, Chowdhry was promoted into management at DuPont, although this was not her career goal. Some chemists do not necessarily want to be "kicked upstairs," because they like doing research better than managing. Chowdhry, however, soon found she not only loved her new work, but she was good at it too. She found in herself the ability that all good leaders have—the ability to inspire people to want to do their best.
For a while she was head of DuPont's Terathane operations. Terathane is a substance used to make various polymers, which are giant chainlike molecules containing thousands of atoms. One family of polymers that contains Terathane is the polyurethane family. Polyurethanes are used to make items as diverse as foam seat cushions, paints, and skateboard wheels. Most polyurethane molecules are made of alternating shorter chains—some very stiff and straight and others floppy and flexible—hooked together like cars in a train. This allows the polyurethane to be strong yet flexible and not brittle. The floppy, flexible segments in polyurethane chains are Terathane molecules.
In 2002 Chowdhry was promoted to vice president of Central Research and Development at DuPont. When she is not overseeing R&D at one of the world's largest chemical companies, Chowdhry and her husband enjoy world travel and fine food and wine.
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