Charles Goodyear Medal winner Joseph Kennedy dies

A polymer scientist, University of Akron professor and Charles Goodyear Medal recipient, Joseph Kennedy died July 21. He was 96.

Kennedy lived for some of life's most important and rewarding things. Family, first and foremost. Chemistry to name another.

And when it came to chemistry, there were moments that made the work worthwhile—those little a-ha moments. Moments, he told the University of Akron in an interview two years ago, where you "suddenly understand the problem in (your) guts and see the way ahead."

Throughout his life, Kennedy experienced quite a few of those a-ha moments. He did, after all, author more than 700 published works, including five books. He also held more than 100 patents.

A decorated scholar and professional, Kennedy won numerous awards for his work, including the 2008 Charles Goodyear Medal, the highest award given by the ACS Rubber Division.

Other awards included:

• Doebereiner Medaille, F. Schiller Universität, Jena, DDR, 1985
• Honorary Doctorate (Doctor Honoris Causa, D.H.C.), Kossuth University, Debrecen, Hungary, 1989
• Elected External Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1993
• George S. Whitby Award for Excellence in Teaching and Research, ACS Rubber Division, 1996
• Award for Distinguished Service to Polymer Science, Society of Polymer Science, Japan, 2000
• Honorary Doctorate (D.H.C.), the University of Akron, 2008
• Elected Fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2010
• Heart Champion Award, American Heart Association, 2011
• Ohio Patent Legacy Award, the Ohio Academy of Science, 2011

Kennedy was best known for inventing a drug-tipped stent with a biocompatible coating. This ensured implantation without inflammation. His polymer—the polystyrene-polyisobutylene-polystyrene thermoplastic elastomer—was commercialized by Boston Scientific and has been credited with saving millions of lives. It was, Kennedy told the University of Akron, his greatest achievement.

"I used to be a refugee, so my allegiance is strongly American. I believe the United States is the ultimate destination for people seeking freedom and opportunity," Kennedy told the University of Akron. "I will never be able to fully repay this magnificent land of ours for the security and peace it gave me. Only in the U.S. could a refugee accomplish what I did after experiencing the terrible regimes of Nazis and Communists. I want to repay what was given to me and help people."

Growing up in Budapest, Kennedy watched his father—an entrepreneur—build a successful liqueur manufacturing business. And it was his father who encouraged him to pursue chemistry.

During World War II, Kennedy survived the Holocaust by staying hidden in his native country, according to a story written by the Cleveland Jewish News.

After the war, Kennedy fled to Austria at the age of 19 and gained citizenship upon earning his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Vienna. He completed a postgraduate program at the Sorbonne in France.

In 1954, he came to Canada, where he took a postdoc position in Montreal. And it was there in Canada he met his wife, Ingrid. The couple met at McGill University where Kennedy was a student and Ingrid attended Bastille Day party for French-speaking Jews, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.

The couple was married for more than 60 years.

Kennedy's career in chemistry took root in the U.S. in 1957 when he took a position with Celanese in Summit, N.J. He later joined Exxon, and it was there that Kennedy apprenticed under Robert McKee Thomas, the co-inventor of butyl rubber.

At Exxon, Kennedy moved up the ranks, eventually holding a title equivalent to vice president. And the work he did there was foundational.

"Not a lot of people can say that the research (they have) done from 40-50 years ago is still valued, still very reliable," Kennedy's UA colleague and eventual fellow Charles Goodyear Medal Winner Judit Puskas told Rubber News in 2008.

But Kennedy's was. Because that was the callibur of his work and insights.

His passion for science eventually led him to the University of Akron in 1970. There, he helped to build the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. That accomplishment was important for Kennedy, who saw academia as a way to take charge of his own research.

"I carried out research in cationic polymerizations in industry for about 10 years before coming to UA and wanted to do my own thing my own way in my area of expertise," he said in a UA interview. "Polymers were very new back then. The 20th century was the century of polymers. It was very exciting to get into this field."