Henry Hsieh Explained

Henry L. Hsieh was a Phillips Petroleum scientist known for contributions to polymerization chemistry, specifically anionic polymerization.^{[1] [2]}

Education

Hsieh was a native of Shanghai, China.^[3] He received his BS Chemistry at the University of Akron in 1954. He then went to Princeton, where he earned a MA in Chemistry in 1956, and a PhD in 1957 in Organic / Polymer chemistry.

Career

After completing his doctoral work, he joined Phillips in 1957 as a research chemist in their rubber synthesis branch. He became an authority on polymerization chemistry, holding 135 patents and publishing more than 50 scientific articles. He was responsible for the development of Solprene synthetic rubbers, K-Resin plastic, Butarez CTL solid rocket fuel binder and Phil-ad VIII multi-grade motor oil additive. In 1974, future Goodyear Medal winner Roderic Quirk worked in Hsieh's anionic polymerization lab.^[4] Hsieh's most cited journal article is a review on the kinetics of alkyllithium initiated polymerization.^[5]

Awards

• 1980 - Hsieh received a $12500 cash award under a Phillips Petroleum patent recognition program.^[6] Upon receiving the award Hsieh was quoted as saying "a discovery is really a series of accidents" and that "it just takes someone with a prepared mind to accept and catch that accident".^[7]
• 1991 - Inventor of the Year Award from the Oklahoma Bar Association's ^{[8] [9]} patent, trademark and copyright section
• 1998 - Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award from Rubber Division of the ACS

Notes and References

1. News: Phillips Names Senior Scientist . 11 August 2022 . the Oklahoman . 4 September 1983.
2. Book: Hsieh . Henry . Quirk . Roderic P. . Anionic Polymerization Principles and Practical Applications . 14 March 1996 . Tarlor and Francis . Boca Raton . 10.1201/9780585139401 . 9780429168994 . 1 . 31 August 2022.
3. News: NEWS . 28 December 2022 . The Oklahoman . Oklahoman . 1 December 1991.
4. News: Meyer . Bruce . Born to be a teacher- Charles Goodyear Medalist Quirk combines academia and industry . 28 December 2022 . Rubber and Plastics News . Crain . 15 July 2019.
5. Hsieh . H. L. . Glaze . W. H. . Kinetics of Alkyllithium Initiated Polymerizations . Rubber Chemistry and Technology . 1 January 1970 . 43 . 1 . 22–73 . 10.5254/1.3547243 . 3 January 2023.
6. News: Prepared Mind . 16 February 2024 . Hanover Evening Sun . August 16, 1980.
7. News: A Prepared Mind . 16 February 2024 . Alamogordo Daily News . August 29, 1980.
8. News: Livestock Feeding Talk Planned . 15 February 2024 . The Oklahoman . oklahoman.com . 1 December 1991.
9. News: GS *01-*59 . 28 December 2022 . Princeton Alumni Weekly . Princeton . 11 September 1991.