Stephanie Louise Kwolek, the chemist who invented Kevlar, the fluffy but high-strength material that made body armor almost impenetrable, died June 18. She was 90 years old.

Kevlar, the fluffy but high-strength material that made body armor almost impenetrable, was invented in 1965. Kwolek invented the poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide that is better known today by the Kevlar trademark. She worked on Kevlar while still working as a chemist at  the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, an American company.

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Kwolek won many awards for her work in polymer chemistry, a field she is credited with creating.

Kevlar was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. Currently, Kevlar is used in an incredible range of applications.

It is best known as the main ingredient in modern body armor because of its high tensile strength-to-weight ratio. Kevlar is five times stronger than steel on an equal weight basis.

It is also used to make sports rackets, smartphones, sporting goods such as tennis racquets and skis, motorcycle components, clothing, canoes, kayaks, drumheads and mooring lines for ships, among many uses.

"She leaves a wonderful legacy of thousands of lives saved and countless injuries prevented by products made possible by her discovery," said DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman. She remembered Kwolek as a creative and determined chemist, and a true pioneer for women in science.

Kwolek retired as a research associate for DuPont in 1986. During her 40 years as a research scientist, she filed and received at least 28 patents.

In 1995, she became the fourth woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The next year, she received the National Medal of Technology. She joined the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2003.

She received the 1997 Perkin Medal from the American Chemical Society and a 1980 award from the American Chemical Society for "Creative Invention."

Kwolek, who first wanted to become a fashion designer, was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of New Kensington, Pennsylvania to Polish parents. She never married.

TagsStephanie Louise Kwolek, Kevlar