Photo gift of Joseph Labovsky. CHF Collections. Paul Flory (1910–1985) While Wallace Carothers showed the world that macromolecules could exist, it was his protégé, Paul Flory, who would determine the finer points of the behavior of large molecules. Born in 1910 in Sterling, Illinois, Flory studied chemistry as an undergraduate at Manchester College and earned a doctorate in physical chemistry from the Ohio State University in 1934. He then went to work for DuPont, where he became involved in polymer chemistry under the direction of Carothers. Since Carothers was an organic chemist, Flory’s abilities in physical chemistry and mathematics complemented well those of his mentor. Flory worked with Carothers to develop the basic principles of polymerization kinetics and the statistics of molecular mass distribution in polymer samples, among other things. A year after the death of Carothers in 1937, Flory left DuPont for an academic career, returning to industry for a few years during World War II to work on the development of synthetic rubber for the war effort. In postwar academia he continued to develop his theories on the conformation of polymer chains in solution and produced his well-known book Principles of Polymer Chemistry, which is still the classic reference for polymer chemistry. For the rest of his career Flory worked out rigorous mathematical theories on the thermodynamics of polymer solutions and of rubber elasticity, and statistical treatment of polymer-chain conformations. He received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1974, an honor which he felt would and should have gone to Wallace Carothers had he lived longer. Always a person of conscience, Flory used the prestige of the award to campaign for international human rights, especially with regard to the treatment of scientists in the Soviet block.