With the unavailability of Southeast Asian natural rubber supplies after the onset of World War II, butyl rubber proved an ideal replacement for tire inner tubes and curing bladders. Sparks and Thomas also made key contributions to the primary effort to develop the synthetic buna rubber for tires that became the mainstay of U.S. synthetic rubber production during the war. Located in the Goodyear Polymer Science Center, the International Rubber Science Hall of Fame recognizes significant contributions to the science of rubber and rubber-like materials. Past inductees include Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanization, and John Boyd Dunlop, the inventor of the pneumatic tire. The Hall's sponsors are the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society and the University of Akron's College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, the largest academic program of its kind in the United States.
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