1. Waldo Lonsbury Semon was an American inventor born in Demopolis, Alabama.
13 Facts About Waldo Semon
1. 2.
Waldo Semon is credited with inventing methods for making polyvinyl chloride useful.
3.
Waldo Semon completed his education at the University of Washington, earning degrees in 1920 and 1924.
4.
Waldo Semon is credited for being the first to commercialise plasticizers for vinyl, which greatly increased their utility, starting with dibutyl phthalate.
5.
Waldo Semon found the formula for vinyl by mixing a few synthetic polymers, and the result was a substance that was elastic, but wasn't adhesive.
6.
Waldo Semon worked on methods of improving rubber, and eventually developed a synthetic substitute.
7.
Goodrich, Semon reported to Harry L Fisher and later supervised Benjamin S Garvey, both of whom received the Charles Goodyear Medal.
8.
Waldo Semon hired Charles S Schollenberger who received the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award.
9.
Waldo Semon is sometimes credited with inventing bubble gum, but this is inaccurate.
10.
Waldo Semon did invent an indigestible synthetic rubber substance that could be used as a bubble gum, but the product remained a curiosity and was never sold.
11.
Waldo Semon graduated from the University of Washington earning a BS in chemistry and a PhD in chemical engineering.
12.
Waldo Semon was awarded the Charles Goodyear Medal in 1944, the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1964, and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1965.
13.
Waldo Semon died in Hudson, Ohio, on May 26,1999, at the age of 100.