Stephanie Kwolek - Wonderful Woman No. 147

Stephanie Kwolek - Born 1923
American Chemist

I added Stephanie Kwolek to the Wonderful Women Facebook album in February last year, I had been listening to an interview with British inventor, Trevor Baylis on BBC Radio 4. During the interview Mr Baylis talked at length about how the achievements of female scientists are often less celebrated than those of men, a fact highlighted in numerous previous blog-posts here, such as Rosalind Franklin - Wonderful Woman No. 69 and Gertrude Elion - Wonderful Woman No. 86, his case in point was today's Wonderful Woman, of whom I was previously unaware but thanks to Mr Baylis felt inspired by on that particular February day.

After earning a degree in Chemistry from Margaret Morrison Carnegie College of Carnegie Mellon University, USA in 1946, Stephanie began to work as a chemist for DuPont, during this time there was a high demand for female scientists as many men had served in World War II and were unavailble for work. It was here that her great work took shape, in 1965 following the worry of a gasoline shortage in the USA, Stephanie developed poly-paraphenylene terephtalamide, more commonly known as Kevlar.

Kevlar, a high-strength material began commercial use in racing car tyres in the early 1970s. Spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used in this form or as an ingredient in composite material components, Kevlar has a high strength-to-weight ratio making it 5 times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis. Kevlar continues to be used in many products from tyres, to racing sails and even in body armour.

Stephanie's career as a research scientist spanned over forty years, during which time she filed an indeterminable number of patents. Over the years, she has received a great many honours in her field, including being only the fourth woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, USA.

Though she may not be a household name, I imagine there are few households who will not, at some time, have benefitted from Stephanie's most renowned invention. She truly is a Wonderful Woman and one I rather wish more of us knew about.

I feel very humble. I feel very lucky. So many people work all their lives and they don't have a big break or make any big discovery that's of benefit to other people.
Stephanie Kwolek

Ella Fitzgerald - Wonderful Woman No. 146

Ella Fitzgerald - 1917-1996
American Singer, Songwriter and Actress

Added to the album by Sandy, A Wonderful Woman

Man, Woman and Child. Ella Fitzgerald was the greatest.
Bing Crosby

Happy new year everyone! I hope many more of you will suggest additions to the Wonderful Women album in the coming year, I'm sure many great ladies will become known to us during the next twelve months.

The first Wonderful Woman subject this year is the inimitable Ella Fitzgerald, who always reminds me of another very Wonderful Woman, my lovely Grandma, June Smith, who introduced me to the joy of jazz as a child - a gift I will never be able to thank her enough for.

Like too many of the Wonderful Women featured before her, Ella's early years were traumatic, after the death of her mother when she was fourteen, Ella suffered abuse at the hands of her step-father. She had a number of brushes with the law, before being homed in an orphanage, she was later homeless for a period.

Ella's singing career began in New York when she was 17, she was soon recruited to join a band, with whom she recorded a number of records, after the death of the band's leader, the group became known as Ella and her Famous Orchestra. In 1942, Ella went solo and signed to Decca Records. Over the next fifty years of her life, Ella went on to record somewhere in the region of 90 albums (including, in my opinion, the best Christmas album ever recorded), win 13 Grammy awards (as well as a plethora of other industry accolades) and be awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She worked alongside some of jazz musics most loved artists, such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and rightfully became known as the Queen of Jazz.

Ella also appeared in film and on television, perhaps most famously in the 1955 jazz, gangster film Pete Kelly's Blues.

Her apparent equanimity and her clear pronunciation, which transcended race, ethnicity, class and age, made her a voice of profound reassurance and hope.
The New York Times

An unmistakable voice, the sultry scat sounds, the smooth coupled with such a subtle gravelly quality. Meloncholy but also beautifully joyful... Ella's sound was (and is) perfection.

Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.
Ella Fitzgerald