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ALUMNI NEWS
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elected in 1961. Upon graduation in 1963, he headed back to Delaware, excited to turn his technical prowess into new technology that would propel the fledgling company forward.
Serendipitous discovery struck in 1969. With the goal of reducing the amount of expensive fluoropolymer needed for coatings, Bob was attempting to stretch PTFE rods. This semicrystalline polymer is difficult to process due to a very high melting temperature, and he was frustrated
by his inability to produce a stable extended form of the plastic. In what is now a legendary story, Bob heated a rod of PTFE and in desperation yanked on it forcefully, extending the specimen to about ten times its initial length. Shockingly, the diameter of the stretched rod remained roughly the same, implying that the material had voided. What is perhaps most significant about this event is that Bob recognized that this unanticipated discovery held technological value. And as they say, the rest is history.
W.L. Gore and Associates quickly capitalized on this finding, filing two landmark patent applications, followed by additional innovations that exploit the microporous yet mechanically sturdy nature of GORE-TEX®, amplified by the unique low surface tension of the fluorinated plastic. Hence, GORE-TEX® Fabrics are breathable yet shed liquid water, making them uniquely attractive for outdoor uses. Over the past 50 years the portfolio of products that rely on GORE-TEX® has grown enormously, a trend that continues today. The company now employs nearly 10,000 people and generates roughly $3 billion in annual sales.
Both of us have had the privilege of knowing Bob and Jane Gore personally and had the opportunity to engage them in projects critically important to the academic enterprises of both of his alma maters. Bob was engaged in many ways with the University of Delaware (UD). He was a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Delaware Research Foundation and the University’s Board of Trustees. He was also an important voice on advisory committees to both the Department of Chemical Engineering and the College of Engineering. But his most significant legacy at UD was delivered in the 1990s, when he and his family stepped forward to provide a critical classroom building. When the project cost climbed to
As the inventor of GORE-TEX® Fabrics, CEMS alumnus Bob Gore was well-known for his innovation and philanthropy. He is pictured here at the Gore Annex grand opening in 2014. Photo credit: Richard Anderson Photography.
more than he had pledged, Bob expanded his gift. There were to be no cost-cutting shortcuts. The result was Gore Hall, a beautiful Georgian-style space and the first new building in the heart of campus in four decades.
The Gores also have had tremendous impact on the CEMS department over the past 20 years. Shortly after Frank Bates was appointed as department head in
1999, he engaged Bob in several discussions regarding challenges facing the department. Bob listened carefully then invited the new department head to visit him in Delaware for a working breakfast at his favorite, and of course unpretentious, restaurant by the Chesapeake Bay. He had a lot of questions that penetrated deeply into the operation of the department, including teaching and research. He fully grasped the dilemma posed by the need to financially support first-year graduate students prior to their joining individual faculty research groups.
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