Patricia Billings

Patricia Billings (born 1926) is a sculptor, inventor, and businesswoman. She invented the building material Geobond.

Early life and education Patricia Billings was born in 1926 in Clinton, Missouri to a farmer and his wife. She married a salesman and began working as a medical technologist, studying fungal and bacterial diseases at Kansas City Junior College.

In 1956 she began studying art at Amarillo College. She made plaster of Paris sculptures, She sent a 10-inch statue made of her new material to a scientist, who encouraged her to persist. it was patented in 1997. The resulting company, Geobond International Inc., began as a small 13-employee company in Kansas City, Missouri. Billings along with Susan Michalski also invented the FireTherm wall system,

Recognition Popular Mechanics named Billings, in 2020, one of "37 Women Who’ve Upended Science, Tech, and Engineering For the Better" for her invention of Geobond which was recognized for its non-carcinogenic properties.

A book on women inventors, Patently Female (2002), calls Geobond the "world's first safe alternative to asbestos."

Building material patents In addition to the invention of Geobond, Billings has received several patents for building materials including modular wall panels and roofing tiles. These include: 1997, US 5647180 A, Fire resistant building panel (Patricia Billings and Susan Michalski) 1998, US 5795380 A, Lightweight roof tiles and method of production (Patricia Billings and Susan Michalski) 2001, US 6230409 B1, Molded building panel and method of construction (Patricia Billings and Susan Michalski) 2003, US 6557256 B2, Molded building panel and method of construction (Patricia Billings and Susan Michalski) 2008, US 20080044648 A1, Heat protected construction members and method (Patricia Billings and David C. Rada)

Billings and Susan Michalski developed a patented process and design for modular, fire-resistant molded building panels using a gypsum cement catalyst formula in layers between a framework of rigid studs.

Personal life Billings married at age 21; she divorced 17 years later. She has a daughter and two grandsons.