Julian W. Hill (1904-1996) was an American chemist who helped develop nylon.^[1]

Early life

Julian W. Hill was born in 1904, and he grew up in Warrenton, Missouri.^[2] He graduated from the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis in 1924, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, and he went on to earn a PhD in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1928.^[2][3][1]

Career

Hill joined DuPont, where he worked as a chemist in the Experimental Station laboratories under Wallace H. Carothers's supervision.^[3] He initially studied polymers in the 1920s.^[1] By 1930, he had used a cold drawing method to produce a polyester.^[2][4] Hill's cold drawing method was used by Carothers in 1934 to develop the polyamide later named nylon, which was patented by DuPont^[3] and was a greater commercial success due to its higher melting point.^[2]

Hill was promoted to assistant director of the chemical department.^[2] He also served on DuPont's steering committee from 1932 to 1951.^[2] He became the Chair of DuPont's Committee on Educational Aid in 1951, and he helped fund academic programs in the United States until his retirement in 1964.^[2][3][1]

Personal life and death

Hill married Mary Louisa "Polly" Butcher, a Vassar College alumna, in 1931.^[5] They had two sons and a daughter.^[3] He had poliomyelitis.^[3] He retired at the Cokesbury Village retirement village in Hockessin, Delaware with his wife, where he died on January 29, 1996.^[3]