Aubert Y. Coran (born March 24, 1932) was graduated from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy with BS and MS degrees in 1953 and 1955. In December of 1992 he earned a doctorate degree in Physical Chemistry at the Université de Haute Alsace (at Mulhouse, France) under the direction of Professor J.-B. Donnet.
Dr. Coran has made contributions in the fields of polymer science and technology, including the science of the dispersion of fillers in elastomers, vulcanization, chemical modification of polymers, plasticization, polymer processing, blending, etc. He is well known in his field as both an inventor (99 US patents) and an author (about 100 scientific papers). He was editor of Rubber Chemistry & Technology, the Journal of the Rubber Division, American Chemical Society (ACS), 1978-1983. In 1985, he was the Chairman of the Gordon Research Conference on Elastomers.
Dr. Coran received the Thomas Midgley award from the Detroit Section, ACS, in 1980 for his work on the chemistry of tire-rubber vulcanization. In 1983, he was awarded the ACS Rubber Division's Award for Technical Excellence and he received the Edgar M. Queeny Award from the Monsanto Company for his part in the invention of Santogard® PVI premature vulcanization inhibitor. Dr. Coran was also the winner of the 1984 Colwyn Medal, given by the Plastics and Rubber Institute (UK) for contributions to the science and technology of rubber. In 1991, Dr. Coran was a co-recipient of the ACS Rubber Division's first Science and Technology Award for Thermoplastic Elastomers. He received the Charles Goodyear Medal from the Rubber Division of the ACS in 1995. Products which bear his mark include Santogard PVI, Santoweb® fiber for rubber and PVC reinforcement, Vocol® accelerator for vulcanization and Santoprene® thermoplastic elastomers (produced by Advanced Elastomer Systems, L. P.).
After joining Monsanto in 1955, Coran served in several research positions and, at the time of his retirement from Monsanto, he was a Distinguished Science Fellow (the highest technical position at Monsanto). After his retirement from Monsanto in October of 1992 (after 36 years of service), he was appointed Manager of the EPIC-M.A. Hanna Polymer Blending and Compounding Center at the Institute of Polymer Engineering of The University of Akron and served in that position until the end of 1995 when he became a Research Professor at the Institute of Polymer Engineering. He retired from that position in 2000 and is now a consultant and an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Polymer Engineering of The University of Akron. |
