The Resume

(July 31, 1923-June 18, 2014)
Born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania
Research chemist at DuPont (1946-86)
Held 17 patents
Invented the synthetic fiber Kevlar (1966)
Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (1995)
Received the National Medal of Technology (1997)

Why she might be annoying:

Growing up, she wanted to become a fashion designer, but her mother warned her she would probably starve in that business because she was such a perfectionist.
She initially planned to work at DuPont only long enough to earn money to attend med school.
She admitted that she had not anticipated Kevlar's properties when she synthesized it and called the result 'a case of serendipity.'
Developing practical applications for Kevlar was done by other DuPont scientists.

Why she might not be annoying:

She decided to give up med school and stick with chemistry because 'Each day there was something new, a new challenge, and I loved that.'
Because she signed over her patents to DuPont, she did not receive a cut of the billions in royalties that Kevlar earned for the company.
By the time of her death, Kevlar body armor had saved the lives of over 3,000 law enforcement officers.
She said, 'I feel very lucky. So many people work all their lives and they don't make a discovery that's of benefit to other people.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 53]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [July] (Ranked: 7311923)
• I am of Polish Extraction
• I Attended Carnegie-Mellon
• I Died in 2014 (Ranked: 90)
• Inventors
• Little People [5'3 and Shorter] - Female A-K
• Look at My Political Button
• Profiles 35501-35750 (Ranked: 35650)
• Scientists
• Time’s 100 Women of the Year [1920-2020] (Ranked: 1966)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 65 Votes: 49.23% Annoying