Bill Gore

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Wilbert L. Gore (Bill Gore) (1912 - 1986) was a chemical engineer and the main inventor of Gore-Tex. Gore received both a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in 1933 and a masters of science in chemistry in 1935 from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Gore founded WL Gore and Associates, and co-developed with his son, Bob, the process by which PTFE resin could be stretched wide enough to laminate it to fabric. These fabrics were made into the first laminate product, a tent made by the Seattle outdoor recreational firm of Early Winters, Ltd. in 1976.

Bill Gore died of a heart attack in 1986 while on a backpacking trip in Wyoming's Wind River Range. His firm is still privately owned and does over one billion dollars in sales each year.

A hall was named after Gore at the Univerity of Delaware.