Carl Shipp Marvel

Carl Shipp Marvel (1894-1988), known to colleagues as Speed Marvel, was an American polymer chemist born in Waynesville, Illinois. He spent most of his career at the University of Illinois, rising from instructor in 1920 to professor of organic chemistry in 1930, and later held a professorship at the University of Arizona from 1961 until his death. Marvel contributed to synthetic rubber production during the Second World War and later developed polybenzimidazoles, temperature-resistant polymers later used in aerospace, firefighting equipment and as an asbestos substitute. Over his career he supervised 176 doctoral students, published nearly 500 papers, and held 52 patents, and he received the Priestley Medal in 1956 and the National Medal of Science in 1986.