*The discovery of Camptothecin (1966) and Taxol (1971) at the Research Triangle Institute by Monroe E. Wall, Mansukh C. Wani, and colleagues
*Establishment of the Polymer Research Institute (now Polytechnic Institute of New York University) by Herman Mark in 1946, the first academic facility in the United States devoted to the study and teaching of polymer science
*Development of high-performance carbon fibers at Union Carbide Corporation (now GrafTech International) between 1958 and 1970