Joseph Kennedy (professor)

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Joseph P. Kennedy (18 May 1928 -) is a Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Chemistry at the University of Akron [1] , noted particularly for inventing a polymer coating for a drug-tipped stent that is highly compatible to human tissue, and that was successfully commercialized by Boston Scientific. [2]

Contents

Personal

Joseph Kenedi spent his youth in Budapest, Hungary during World War II and the beginning of the Cold War. His father was killed by the Nazis, and his mother was imprisoned by communists. In 1948, he was kicked out of the college where he earned his first degree in chemistry, "for being too bourgeois". [3]

At age 19, he fled to Austria as an illegal immigrant. He gained citizenship upon earning his doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Vienna, and he then completed postgraduate work at the Sorbonne in France.

In 1954, he immigrated to be close to family in Canada, and to take another postdoc position in Montreal. There he met Ingrid, who later became his wife.

Following many years of success in his field, Kennedy accepted an Honorary Doctorate from Kossuth University in 1989. He was also elected a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1993.

Career

Kennedy's first employment in America was in 1957 with the chemical company Celanese Corp. in Summit, N.J. He later joined Exxon, where he held a series of positions with increasing responsibility.

His interest in pure science eventually led him to seek a position in academia. In 1970, he accepted a position with the University of Akron, where he helped to develop the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering.

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ "Good News, June 18: University of Akron honors longtime polymer science professor on his 90th birthday". Akron Beacon Journal. Beacon Journal. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Smith, Robert L. (September 6, 2012). "Joseph Kennedy, Akron's King of Polymers, proves inventors are young at heart". Plain Dealer. Retrieved 24 Sep 2014.
  3. ↑ Kennedy, Joseph P. (1999). "Living Cationic Polymerization of Olefins. How Did the Discovery Come About?" (PDF). J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 37 (14): 2285–2293. Bibcode:1999JPoSA..37.2285K. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-0518(19990715)37:14<2285::AID-POLA1>3.0.CO;2-P . Retrieved 24 Sep 2014.
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