Dan Hertz leaves long legacy in rubber industry

Editor's note: The rubber industry has lost some wonderful talents and leaders this year. Rubber News remembers them.

RED BANK, N.J.—The rubber industry lost one of its true originals early this year when Daniel L. Hertz Jr. died at the age of 90.

Hertz founded Seals Eastern Inc. in 1959 and was active throughout his more than six-decade career in the rubber industry, serving a term as chair of the ACS Rubber Division, and being chosen as the 2007 Rubber & Plastics News Rubber Industry Executive of the Year.

Among his other honors, Hertz received the Rubber Division's Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award; he was granted an honorary degree from the Stevens Institute of Technology; earned five patents; published more than 60 articles on elastomers and sealing concepts; and was given the Raymond Hopp Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in New Jersey Manufacturing.

Hertz considered himself a self-educated scientist who got much of his education through Rubber Division Courses, attending conferences and reading hundreds of science and technology books in the library outside his office at the Seals Eastern headquarters and facility in Red Bank.

One of the driving forces to learn and succeed over the years was when he was asked to leave the Stevens Institute after his freshman year. After seeing all that Hertz accomplished in his career—along with his support of higher education—the institute tried to right that wrong three decades later by granting him an honorary degree in mechanical engineering.

"That honorary degree came like a shot out of the blue," Hertz said during a 2007 interview. "That kept me alive for years, it really did. After I was kicked out of Stevens, I thought if I ever showed up on campus I'd be lynched."

After working with Precision Rubber Products as a sales representative and then for a distribution organization for a company called Linear, he founded Seals Eastern.

Over the years, much of the molded goods firm's business centered around developing products using as a base the Aflas fluoroelastomer produced by Japan's Asahi Glass Group. But Hertz insisted on going beyond the base material, designing formulations to solve specific customer requirements.

"My philosophy has always been that first we develop a rubber formulation to solve the problem," he said. "Then we design the tooling to mold the formulation and pick the manufacturing process that is best-suited."

Hertz got to be known as an expert in his field. In 1986, after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, NASA brought in Hertz as an expert. He determined that a faulty O-ring design had caused the explosion, and he offered a modification to help solve future issues.

The founder of Seals Eastern also wasn't afraid to speak his mind.

Eric Thomas, now of Ace Products & Consulting L.L.C., remembers first meeting Hertz at a 1976 Rubber Division Spring Technical Meeting. Thomas—then with Industrial Electronic Rubber Co.—said a Dow Corning representative gave a presentation about one of their new aerospace fluorosilicone grades.

"Apparently, Seals Eastern had recently sustained some significant financial losses (scrap parts) attempting to process the new polymer," Thomas said. "Dan was not satisfied with Dow Corning's feeble attempt regarding compensation.

"The technical rep had not been informed by his sales team there were field processing issues. The dude never had a chance."

Thomas said that since that day he and Hertz developed a friendship that lasted 45 years. "He became a strong mentor to me and changed the way I perceived rubber to this day—one who embraced the material as a truly unique engineering material," Thomas said. "Fortunately, IER and Seals Eastern did not compete in the same markets, so he took me under his wing. He was a wonderful teacher and adviser."

Dan French of French Oil Mill Machinery Co. was another longtime friend and colleague of Hertz. Seals Eastern was such a good customer of French Oil Mill Machinery that the machinery firm delivered one of the presses to the Red Bank firm with a plaque thanking Hertz and the company.

"Hertz would tell me time and time again that auto customers would tell their purchasing people to buy the cheapest rubber they could, and then wonder why their warranty costs were too high," French said. "He finally convinced some of them that for a couple extra dollars in seal costs you could save yourself a couple thousand dollars in warranty costs."

Daniel L. Hertz III followed in his father's footsteps as the leader and principal owner of Seals Eastern. His father gave him guidance not only on the technology side of rubber, but also in terms of running a business, including how to pick and read markets and how to anticipate trends.

"A lot of people will go to work, but not everybody finds a mentor," Hertz III said in 2007 when his father was named Rubber Industry Executive of the Year. "It's been a blessing that not only am I here working for the family business, but the family member who is the president ends up being my mentor."

Hertz Jr. is survived by his wife of 50 years, Isabel "Ibby" Hertz; eight children and their spouses; 24 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions can be made in Hertz's name to All Saint's Memorial Church in Navesink, N.J.