Donald Holmes

Who was Donald Holmes?

Dr. Donald Fletcher Holmes was an American inventor. Holmes, along with Dr. William Edward Hanford, invented the process for making the multipurpose material polyurethane. He received the polyurethane patent in 1942. Mixing polyols and hydroxyl compounds with di-isocyanates is the basis today for the manufacture of all polyurethanes. Polyurethane can be used in, but is not limited to, life-saving artificial hearts, safety padding in modern automobiles, and in carpeting.

Holmes was born in Woodbury, New Jersey. In 1931, he earned a B.S. in Organic Chemistry from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He would later earn a master's and doctorate from the University of Illinois. Holmes was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1991.