David S. Breslow | |
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![]() Breslow in November 1982 | |
Born |
New York City, U.S. | August 13, 1916
Died | May 26, 1995
Newark, Delaware, U.S. | (aged 78)
Resting place | Jewish Community Cemetery, Brandywine Hundred |
Alma mater | |
Spouse | Ann Goodman Breslow |
Children | 3 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Polymer chemistry |
Institutions |
David S. Breslow (August 13, 1916 – May 26, 1995) was an American industrial chemist best known for his work on polymers. [1] [2]
Breslow was born on August 13, 1916, [3] and raised in Queens, New York. [2] He developed an early interest in chemistry after inheriting a chemistry set which he and a friend used to make stink bombs. [4] He graduated from City College of New York in 1937 and subsequently earned a doctorate in organic chemistry from Duke University in 1940. [5] [6] During World War II, he did post-doctoral work at the California Institute of Technology and research at the University of California, Berkeley and Duke. [2] [6]
In 1946, he joined the chemical manufacturing company Hercules. [2] He rose through the ranks, and in 1971, he was named senior research associate of the New Enterprise Department, the top technical position at the company. [7]
His research focused on polymers. [1] He helped develop catalysts for the chemical reactions that produce polyethylene and polypropylene, and worked on the stabilization of those materials, leading to a wide array of consumer plastics applications. [1] He also conducted research on the potential use of copolymer MVE-2 as a cancer drug. [8] [4]
He taught part-time at the University of Delaware from 1972 to 1987. [5] During the 1964–1965 academic year, he took a sabbatical at the University of Munich in Germany, [7] and in 1971 he taught at the University of Notre Dame. [5]
Over the course of his career, he acquired 79 patents [2] and authored 90 scientific papers as well as a two-volume textbook on polymers. [5]
He was president of the Delaware chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS),[ when?] and later served on the national ACS board of directors. [9]
Breslow retired in 1982. [2] In 1988, he received the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science. [10] He died on May 26, 1995, at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. [1]
Breslow married Ann Goodman after World War II. [2] They had three children [1] and lived in Brandywine Hundred outside Wilmington, Delaware. [2] He was a member of Congregation Beth Shalom. [2]