Page 19 - CEMS News Winter 2021

ALUMNI NEWS
Bob Gore: A remarkable man
Frank Bates, Regents Professor, and Eric Kaler, UMN President Emeritus and Professor, remember their friend, Robert “Bob” W. Gore (PhD ChE ’63).
The nation lost a great and inspirational citizen with the passing of Robert “Bob” Walton Gore on September
17, 2020 at the age of 83. Bob was the creative genius behind the invention and development of GORE-TEX® Fabric, an incredibly versatile material that ignited the growth of W.L. Gore and Associates into a world-leading corporation. Today, they provide the enabling technology for an amazing array of products ranging from familiar breathable clothing to filtration membranes to a host of medical implants.
The company, where Bob served as President and CEO for nearly 25 years (1976 to 2000), and Chairman until 2016, remains a model for employee engagement and satisfaction, with an unparalleled culture of innovation. W.L. Gore and Associates is perennially listed among the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For®. These extraordinary accomplishments are mirrored by
Bob’s, and his wife, Jane’s, commitments to societal advancement, in particular their philanthropy directed towards the University of Delaware and the University of Minnesota. The Gore Annex addition to Amundson Hall, completed in 2014, stands as a monument to Bob and Jane’s dedication to providing current and future generations of students with the educational opportunities that helped shaped their world vision.
Bob, one of five children, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 15, 1937 to Genevieve “Vieve” and Wilbert “Bill” Gore. The family moved to Newark, Delaware in 1950, where Bob graduated from high school in 1955. He attended the University of Delaware, receiving a BS degree in chemical engineering in 1959, then moved
to the University of Minnesota where he was awarded MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering under
the supervision of Professor William E. Ranz, finishing graduate school in 1963.
Throughout his education, Bob took a keen interest in the business that his parents were establishing based on knowledge that Bill gained while working for the DuPont Corporation. Bill foresaw opportunities to use
Bob Gore’s incredible generosity established the First-Year Fellowship program and enabled a building addition to Amund- son Hall, named the Gore Annex, to ensure that future genera- tions of students could experiment, collaborate, and make their own discoveries. Photo credit: Patrick O’Leary.
poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE, also known as Teflon) for coating wires, but could not find an effective way to process the powdered PTFE feedstock.
While a sophomore at the University of Delaware, Bob provided a key insight to overcoming this problem, leading to a new type of insulated multiple copper wire tape, and soon thereafter, W.L. Gore and Associates
was incorporated. Proximity certainly played a role in
this development. During its first couple of years, the company operated out of the basement of the family home, where Bob lived. He remained engaged with the family business during graduate school, including serving as a member of the board of directors to which he was
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