William Merriam Burton

About

Chemist whose thermal cracking process, which he invented in 1913, greatly expanded the amount of gasoline that could be obtained from raw petroleum. He was the president of Standard Oil from 1918 to 1927.

Before Fame

After earning his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins university, he went to work for Standard Oil of Indiana, where he eventually became the president.

Trivia

His method was employed for more than 15 years, resulting in the equivalent of a million of barrels of crude oil in extra gasoline.

Family Life

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Associated With

Otto Wichterle, born about 50 years later, became another prominent chemist - he developed the first soft contact lens.