Henry A. Hill Biography

Henry A. Hill was an expert on polymers , with a particular interest in resins, rubber, and plastics. Conscious of the limited opportunities for African Americans in the sciences in the 1940s and 1950s, Hill turned adversity to advantage and held a number of management positions in the chemical industry before starting his own company, Riverside Research Laboratory . Hill was frequently sought out by his colleagues for a range of consulting and advisory positions. He was responsible for developing guidelines for employers in the chemical industry, and was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Commission on Product Safety. In 1977 Hill served as president of the American Chemical Society.

Henry Aaron Hill was born May 30, 1915, in the small river town of St. Joseph, Missouri. His undergraduate education was completed at Johnson C. Smith University, a liberal arts school in North Carolina. Hill received a B.S. in chemistry in 1936. He then spent a year in graduate school at the University of Chicago, but went on to earn a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1942. At MIT Hill came briefly but memorably under the influence of James Flack Norris, who impressed Hill by being more interested in Hill's abilities as a chemist than in his heritage. Hill was later instrumental in establishing the American Chemical Society's Norris award.

Following his formal schooling, Hill held jobs involving several different research concerns, beginning as head of chemistry research at Atlantic Research Associates in Massachusetts from 1942 to 1943. In 1943 he was made a research director. In 1945 Hill was promoted to vice president in charge of research at what was now the National Atlantic Research Company. While moving quickly up the ranks, Hill spent his research time developing water-based paints, rubber adhesives, and synthetic rubber, among other projects. It was also there that Hill began to conceive of operating his own research laboratory.

Hill then spent six years, from 1946 to 1952, as group leader at the Dewey & Almy Chemical Company, working on polymer research. (Polymers are large molecules consisting of similar or identical small molecules or monomers linked together. Examples of naturally occurring polymers are proteins and silk; polymers synthesized in the laboratory include plastics and synthetic fibers.) Hill's experience led him to the collaborative development of National Polychemicals Inc., in Wilmington, Massachusetts, where he spent the next nine years beginning in 1952, the first four as assistant manager, and the last five as a vice president. This corporation was a manufacturer of chemical intermediaries used for polymers, and grew to have annual sales in 1971 of over ten million dollars. The company's success was largely credited to Hill's personal research contributions.

In 1961 Hill realized his ambition of operating his own research facility, establishing Riverside Research Laboratory. The mission of the corporation would be to provide research and development, as well as consulting, in the area of organic chemistry. Hill had a particular interest in resin, rubber, and plastics. By 1964 the company had moved to more spacious accommodations, where it would remain for the remainder of Hill's life. Hill eventually became known as an authority in polymer chemistry on fabric flammability.

Hill was active in the professional aspects of his field. In 1968 he served as chair of the committee on professional relations of the American Chemical Society. This committee produced widely used personnel guidelines for employers of chemists and chemical engineers. In 1968 Hill was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to the National Commission on Product Safety, a position that galvanized Hill's interest in product liability and product safety. Hill was a fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Chemists. He was a member of the American Chemical Society for thirty-eight years, served on its board of directors from 1971 to 1978, and was elected president in 1977. He was chair of the compliance committee of the National Motor Vehicle Safety Advisory Council, and a member of the Information Council on Fabric Flammability. He was married in 1943, and had one child.

Whatever obstacles Hill may have faced in his career owing to racial discrimination, his talent and persistence served him well in a highly competitive industry. In 1971 he was quoted in Chemistry as saying, "My successes have hinged upon a scratch below the surface, a little extra persistence." Hill died of a heart attack on March 17, 1979.