Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born in Belgium and received his doctorate in chemistry at age 21 from the University of Ghent. He taught there until 1889 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1891. He invented Velox photographic paper in 1893, a process he later sold to George Eastman for one million dollars.
Baekeland is best known for his invention of an inexpensive, nonflammable plastic, known as Bakelite, in 1907. Bakelite was the first plastic invented that held its shape when heated. Baekeland described it as “… a liquid compound of phenol and formaldehyde which on solidification resembles amber in appearance and when used in combination with wood, paper, asbestos, graphite and other substances produces a solid non-resistant, non-inflammable insulating material which promises to have many applications in various industries.” His invention is generally considered the beginning of the “age of plastic.”
Baekeland was a member of the Research Corporation Board of Directors from 1916 until 1918.