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  John J. Grebe - Hall of Fame Entry
Author: Plastics Academy Staff
Added: 03/29/2004
Type: Summary
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This article is also available online at Plastics Academy Hall of Fame [http://www.plasticsacademy.org]

John J. Grebe - Hall of Fame Entry

 

John J. Grebe

Birthdate:
1900

Deceased:
1984

Induction:
1990 

Industry Areas:
Material, Process


Made important contributions to the plastics industry, including the development of polystyrene, Styrofoam, and Saran plastics.

Grebe personally held 64 patents at Dow Chemical Co. in electro-chemistry, power generation, synthesis of organic compounds, and air conditioning. He was honored with the Hyatt Award for his work on the production of pure styrene and its polymerization. For the federal government, Grebe designed atomic reactors for submarines.

Grebe joined Dow in 1921 -- immediately after receiving his BS degree in physics from the Case School of Applied Science -- and remained with the company for 41 years. In addition to his work as the founder and director of the Dow Physical Research Laboratory, he was a pioneer scientist in the field of nuclear and chemical research. He also made major contributions in the simplification of plastics processing and automatic control equipment.

Grebe is survived by his wife, Hazel, of Sun City, AZ, two sons, and three daughters.