Francesco DeMaria
Francesco DeMaria (October 17, 1928 Vieste, Italy) is an Italian-American chemist.
DeMaria is the middle of three sons born to Michele DeMaria and Vittoria Farnararo. At the age of 6 he moved to Tuscany where he remained until coming to the United States after World War II in 1947. Although he was born and raised in Italy he was a naturalized citizen of the US because his father, Michele, had immigrated to the United States in 1908. Michele ran a successful business in Bangor, Maine and received his U.S. citizenship and then returned to Italy to marry Vittoria and raise his three children, Antonio, Francesco and Vincenzo. Michele served as an interpreter to the Allied generals during and after WWII guaranteeing he and his family, including Francesco, passage to the United States shortly after the end of the war.[1]
Four years after arriving in New York, DeMaria received his Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1951. DeMaria went on to marry Jacqueline Campbell on August 1, 1953. DeMaria earned his Masters in Chemical Engineering from the Polytechnical Institute of Brooklyn in 1956, and then his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1958. He finished his Ph.D. in just two years. He was also designated a Hercules Fellow and Union Carbide Co. Fellow while at the University of Michigan. After receiving his Ph.D. he and Jacqueline moved to Connecticut and had three sons, Brian, Michael and Randy.[1]
DeMaria was the group leader in the engineering research section of the Central Research Division of American Cyanamid from 1959 to 1964. He was also the manager of suture research in Danbury, Connecticut from 1964 to 1966. He was the manager of industrial chemistry at the Warner's Plant in Linden, New Jersey; the manager of chemical engineering development and research at AMF, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut from 1966 to 1970. He was a graduate instructor at the University of Connecticut in Stamford from 1962 to 1965. He is a lifetime member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and served as its vice chairman in 1972 and a member of the American Chemical Society and served as its division secretary from 1968 to 1969. He contributed to numerous professional journals and was grantee major patants in his field.[1]