Dr. Robert Clyde Forney was a chemical engineer and served as a senior vice president of the DuPont Company. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1927, Forney attended Purdue University from 1944 to 1950, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. In 1950, Forney began employment at the DuPont Company, where he was given the assignment of commercializing Dacron. As part of this assignment, Forney was also responsible for overseeing the startup of plants in Kinston, North Carolina, and Old Hickory, Tennessee. Due to his expertise in textile fibers, he became vice president of the DuPont Textile Fibers Department in 1975. By 1979, Forney became senior Vice President, serving on the DuPont Co. Executive Committee and the Board of Directors until his retirement in 1989.

Forney also provided consultation services to the United States Government. Among them included his contribution to the redesign of NASA’s shuttle rocket booster following the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. In addition, he served as a volunteer consultant to the federal government for a series of National Academy of Engineering studies that included studies on chemical and radioactive disposal, technology transfers from academia to industry, and the transition from socialist to capitalist economies in Eastern Europe. Throughout his lifetime, Forney continued to support his alma mater, where he was honored as a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus, and received an honorary doctorate, an Outstanding Chemical Engineer award, and the President’s Council Pinnacle Award. The Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering is named in his honor. In addition, Forney was chairman of the Chemical Manufacturers Association, a member of the Management Labor Textile Advisory Committee, and the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Forney died on August 3, 2016 at the age of 89.