Julius Arthur Nieuwland

Julius Aloysius Arthur Nieuwland, CSC, (14 February 1878 – 11 June 1936) was a Belgian-born Holy Cross priest and professor of chemistry and botany at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He is known for his contributions to acetylene research and its use as the basis for one type of synthetic rubber, which eventually led to the invention of neoprene by DuPont.

Life and work

Nieuwland's parents emigrated from Hansbeke, Belgium in 1880 to South Bend, Indiana, when Nieuwland was 2. As a young man, Nieuwland enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, In 1920, he successfully polymerized acetylene into divinylacetylene. Elmer Bolton, the Director of Research at DuPont, used this basic research during the development of neoprene.

Nieuwland died at the age of 58, and was buried at the Community Cemetery near Notre Dame.

Among Nieuwland's more famous students was Knute Rockne, who became a celebrated Notre Dame football coach. Rockne graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in pharmacy in 1914 and became a chemistry instructor at Notre Dame, while also coaching various sports on campus, from 1915 to 1922.

Honors and awards Morehead Medal from the International Acetylene Association (1932) President of the Indiana Academy of Sciences American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1935) Nichols medal (1935) for "Basic Work on Synthesis from Unsaturated Hydrocarbons" Mendel Medal from Villanova University (1936) The standard author abbreviation Nieuwl. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name. Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1996, Father Nieuwland is notably the only Catholic priest to receive this honor.