He was born on September 10, 1898. He completed his education at the
University of Washington, earning degrees in 1920 and 1924. His doctoral degree was among the first in the nation to be awarded in
Chemical Engineering. Semon is best known for plasticizing
vinyl, the world's third most used
plastic. He is also credited for being the first to commercialise
plasticizers for vinyl, which greatly increased their utility, starting with
dibutyl phthalate. He found the
formula for vinyl by mixing a few synthetic polymers, and the result was a substance that was elastic, but wasn't adhesive. Semon worked on methods of improving rubber, and eventually developed a synthetic substitute. On December 11, 1935, he created
Koroseal from salt, coke and limestone, a polymer that could be made in any consistency. Semon made more than 5,000 other synthetic rubber compounds, achieving success with
Ameripol (AMERican POLymer) in 1940 for the
B.F. Goodrich company. In all, Semon held 116
patents, and was inducted into the Invention Hall of Fame in 1995 at the age of 97. While at B.F. Goodrich, Semon reported to
Harry L. Fisher and later supervised
Benjamin S. Garvey, both of whom also received the
Charles Goodyear Medal. He hired
Charles S. Schollenberger who received the
Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award. Semon is sometimes credited with inventing
bubble gum, but this is inaccurate. He did invent an indigestible synthetic rubber substance that could be used as a bubble gum (and produced exceptionally large bubbles), but the product remained a curiosity and was never sold. Semon graduated from the
University of Washington earning a
BS in
chemistry and a
PhD in
chemical engineering. He was awarded the
Charles Goodyear Medal in 1944, the
Elliott Cresson Medal in 1964, and the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement in 1965. After retiring from B.F. Goodrich, he served as a research professor at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. He died in Hudson, Ohio, on May 26, 1999, at the age of 100. ==Legacy==