Maurice Morton | |
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![]() Maurice Morton teaching at the Institute of Rubber Research. | |
Born | Russian Empire | June 3, 1913
Died | March 23, 1994 | (aged 80)
Alma mater | McGill University |
Known for | Polymers |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | Polymer science |
Institutions | Concordia University, University of Akron |
Maurice Morton (3 June 1913 – 23 March 1994) was a polymer author, educator, and researcher. He was the first director of the University of Akron's Institute of Rubber Research, which in 1993 was renamed the Maurice Morton Institute of Polymer Science.[1]
Morton was born in the Russian Empire on 3 June 1913. Due to political instability following World War I, Morton's family moved from Latvia to Canada, settling in Montreal. Some of his earliest memories were of gunfire when the Russian Revolution began in St. Petersburg.[2] He attended college at McGill University. He married Lilian Rosenbloom in 1933. The two were married for sixty years, until her death in 1993. Morton emigrated to the United States in 1948, to take a position at the University of Akron, where he would remain for his career. Morton had three children, Jay Dennis, John Alex, and Ruth.
Morton held three patents in polymer chemistry. He wrote more than 100 technical articles over his career, as well as widely used texts.[3][4] His most cited research article treated the subject of anionic polymerization of vinyl monomers.[5]