Edward Kresge, polymer pioneer, dies at 88

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J—Edward Kresge, a pioneer in the development of numerous polymers, holder of more than 50 elastomer-related patents and the 2010 Charles Goodyear Medal honoree, died Oct. 30 following a lengthy battle with Parkinson's Disease.

He was 88.

Kresge, who lived in Solebury, Pa., prior to his medical care in Lawrenceville, was born in Noxen, Pa., Aug. 14, 1935.

His early life on a small family farm in the northeastern Pennsylvania town would give him the mechanical abilities he would lean on for the entirety of his extensive scientific life.

The Kresge family—led by encouraging parents Ira and Hilda—moved to Florida in 1952, where Kresge completed high school before graduating college at the University of Tampa in 1957.

He received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Florida in 1961 and that same year began his more than three-decade career at Exxon Chemical Co.

There, he had direct involvement in important business decisions, especially in the creation of Advanced Elastomer Systems L.P., the Monsanto Chemical Co.-Exxon Chemical joint venture that became a major force in thermoplastic elastomers.

"The problem is very simple," Kresge told Rubber News, then Rubber and Plastics News, in 2010 after receiving the ACS Rubber Division's highest award, the Charles Goodyear Medal, at the division's spring meeting in Akron. "If you can make a lot of money as a lawyer, a physician or a baseball player, why in the world would you want to go into science? And money does make a difference."

Kresge was given his choice of positions at Exxon, took the advice of others at the company and began doing lab work under Francis P. "Baldy" Baldwin—who was the 1979 winner of the Charles Goodyear Medal.

While at Exxon, Kresge served for 15 years as chief polymer scientist, and for four years as the polymer science leader for ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Co.

He was able to retire at age 58, according to the May 2010 story in Rubber News, after fulfilling a one-sentence prediction that one of his college professors made in a letter of recommendation: "Hire this guy, he'll make you millions of dollars."

A pioneer in the development of a variety of elastomers, Kresge's work led to several major innovations in the rubber industry, including viscosity index modifiers—ethylene-propylene—for motor oil.

Specifically, his other innovations at Exxon included developing polyolefin thermoplastic elastomers; and tailored molecular weight density (MWD) EPDM elastomers, a development that took a business that Exxon was on the verge of abandoning and turned the firm into the world's largest EPDM producer.

Major improvements in tires and automotive equipment also resulted from the work of Kresge and his research teams, including the use of nanocomposites in tire innerliners.

Kresge offered insight in 2010 as to how things were done "back in the day."

"There was no budget to do this," Kresge said. "Then my boss said, 'Well, just do it.' Now you have to account for all your time and so forth. I had some pretty good bosses who would take the risk."

Besides the Charles Goodyear Medal, Kresge won many other accolades, including the Melvin Mooney award—which Al Gessler, another of his mentors, had won—the National Inventors Hall of Fame Medal and the Midgley Award for the development of TPO blends, which are used on bumpers on just about all vehicles today.

He was involved with the ACS Rubber Division on an executive level, and received the Arnold Smith Award for those efforts.

In the 1980s, Kresge initiated a long-range research group working on coordination catalysts and polymer characterization.

He said the goal was to study the chemistry of coordination catalysts by looking at a polymerization site that could be characterized and chemically modified—work that led to metallocene research and development.

His career at Exxon would bring him more than just professional successes, as he met his wife of 61 years, Dolores DeYoung, at an Exxon "get acquainted" party.

"The chemical division I was in was mainly male," he said.

Dolores, at the time, was a community relations officer for Exxon Research and Engineering.

"I met her at the party. And that was the last date I ever had," Kresge said.

Kresge and his wife would build a house in Watchung, N.J., where they resided for 39 years together.

"Ed loved to spend time with his wife, children and extended family," according to Kresge's obituary. "Ed was happiest building and fixing things, whether at work, at home or at the family vacation house in Herrick Center, Pa."

The 1991 effort that resulted in the creation of Advanced Elastomer Systems L.P. was serendipitous, according to RPN's 2010 story.

Kresge said it was no secret that Monsanto, which had developed thermoplastic vulcanizates, wanted to get into the agriculture business and did not want to be in polymers.

Monsanto wasn't integrated in polyolefins, as Exxon—which had developed its own thermoplastic polyolefin blends—was. But Monsanto had strong development and marketing efforts, which Exxon lacked.

"There was a lot of resistance in our company to even work in the area," Kresge said.

Following a "eureka" moment, Kresge said he realized "the only way out of this was to form a joint venture with Monsanto."

Ultimately, Kresge spoke to business operatives at Exxon about his proposal, and the wheels were set in motion. Exxon approached the Monsanto people in Akron.

"At that level, they thought we were trying to steal their baby. And they were right. But we had our own baby to feed," Kresge said.

After agreeing to a deal for the JV with Monsanto board member Tom Gossage, who came to the scientist's office in Linden, N.J., Kresge said his long-term plan was for Exxon to take full control of the business someday.

Exxon did so in 2003, 12 years later.

After retiring from Exxon in 1993, Kresge continued as a consultant for Exxon and an "interesting variety of other companies and governments" for 22 more years.

He lectured extensively at scientific meetings and led courses on elastomer technology and the fundamentals of polymer science in the U.S., Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Kresge was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Mary; and his brother, Ira.

He is survived by his wife, Dolores; and his children, John Kresge and Susan Kresge.

A funeral service celebrating Kresge's life took place Nov. 11 at Wilson Memorial Church in Watchung, N.J.