Robert
was valedictorian of his Taft class. Earning a bachelor's degree in chemical
engineering at Purdue University, he added a master's in industrial engineering
and a PhD in chemical engineering in 1950.
Hired by DuPont as a research engineer, he worked with manmade fibers there for 27 years, rising to head the textile fibers department, vice president of plastic products and resins, and the executive committee for the company in 1979. He was appointed executive vice president in 1981.
He earned many honors, including a "Silver Snoopy" from NASA for helping as a volunteer consultant after the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.
Robert volunteered as a consultant to the federal government in subjects from
chemical and radioactive waste disposal, technology transfers from academia to
industry, and transitions from socialist to capitalistic economies in Europe.