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