Stephanie Kwolek Innovative Lives Presentation
name: label: Creator
content: Kwolek, Stephanie
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
label: Names
content: DuPont.
topic: label: Topic
content: Chemists -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Chemistry -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Inventions -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Inventors -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Women inventors
label: Topic
content: Women inventors -- 20th century
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Created by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, March 25, 1996.
creator: label: Creator
content: Kwolek, Stephanie
label: Creator
content: Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Stephanie Kwolek Innovative Lives Presentation
abstract: label: Summary
content: This collection consists of two and one half hours of original (BetaCam SP), master (BetaCam SP) and reference (viewing) copies (VHS), documenting a lecture program for children on March 25, 1996 by Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar. Kwolek discusses her invention of Kevlar as well as her background and life experiences.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Stephanie L. Kwolek was born in 1923 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelors degree in chemistry from Margaret Morrison Carnegie College, now known as Carnegie Mellon University, in 1946. Upon graduating 1946, Kwolek joined the DuPont Company in Buffalo, New York, where she worked in the Textile Fibers Pioneering Research Laboratory. In the laboratory she researched and developed new synthetic fibers. Kwolek's specialty at DuPont was low-temperature polymerization. She discovered the first liquid crystal polymers, which created an entire branch of research and invention. In 1964, Kwolek began searching for new high-performance chemical compounds. By 1965, she had discovered a compound that, when spun into fiber, was very strong and stiff. She found that the rigidness of this fiber nearly doubled when exposed to heat.  The final product resulted in Kevlar (US Patent 3,819,587; RE 30,352) a high-performance aramid fiber used in bullet-resistant vests, crash helmets, boat shells, and radial tires. 

Kevlar provides low stretch or elongation, improved cut resistance, better heat resistance, increased strength, reduced weight, and better impact resistance. Kwolek received a patent for Kevlar in 1971. During her forty year career, Kwolek received twenty-eight patents. She retired from DuPont in 1986. 

Kwolek has received various awards for her invention, including the American Society of Metals Award in 1978, and both the American Chemical Society Creative Invention Award and the American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneer Ward in 1980. In July of 1995, Kwolek was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1996 she received the National Medal of Technology, and in 1997 the Perkin Medal was presented by the American Section of the Society of Chemical Industry to Kwolek. Both honors are rarely awarded to women. Kwolek received the 1999 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for her innovations in the polymers industry, most notably her invention of Kevlar®.

References

Howell, Caitlan. Innovative Lives, Stephanie Kwolek and Kevlar, the Wonder Fiber, 1996.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.45 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1996 March 25
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Transferred from the Lemelson Center to the Archives Center on July 8, 1997.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0596
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Lectures
label: Type
content: Videotapes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is divided into three series.

Series 1, Reference Videos, 1996

Series 2, Master Videos, 1996

Series 3, Original Videos, 1996
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, and Erin Molloy (volunteer), July 14, 1997 and revised July 22, 2011.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Original videos digitized in 2014. See repository for details.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Lectures -- 1990-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Videotapes -- 1990-2000
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists of two and one half hours of original (betaCam SP), master (BetaCam SP) and reference (viewing) copies (VHS), documenting a lecture program for children on March 25, 1996 by Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar. Kwolek discusses her invention of Kevlar as well as her background and life experiences.