Frank Herzegh (April 11, 1907 – December 4, 1989) invented the first successful

tubeless tire Tubeless tires ( also spelled as tubeless tyres in Commonwealth English) are pneumatic tires that do not require a separate inner tube. Unlike pneumatic tires which use a separate inner tube, tubeless tires have continuous ribs molded integral ...

. Herzegh was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, graduating from West Technical High School in 1926. Collegiately, he attended

Case School of Applied Science The Case School of Engineering is the engineering school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It traces its roots to the 1880 founding of the Case School of Applied Science. It became the Case Institute of Technology in 1947 ...

, now known as

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

, receiving his bachelor's degree in Physics in 1930. He played college football for the Case Tech, notably scoring the game winning touchdown in 1927 at

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-sc ...

against rival Western Reserve Red Cats for the 7–6 victory; Case Tech would not win again against their rival until 1948. Herzegh joined the B.F. Goodrich Corporation, Akron, Ohio as a research and development engineer immediately after graduating Case Tech. In 1946, he applied for his

patent and eventually received in 1952 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In addition to his famous

invention, he created 100 other patents during his lifetime. After a 42-year career with Goodrich, he retired in 1972. In 1978, he was awarded the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

, the highest honor conferred by the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

, Rubber Division.

Personal life

In 1938, he married Eleanor Pitkin Owen; together, they had 3 children. He lived a majority of his adult life in

Shaker Heights, Ohio Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the city population was 29,439. Shaker Heights is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland, abutting the eastern edge of the city's limits. In July 1911, ...

, where he was cremated.

External links

Audio interview
with Frank Herzegh.

References

1907 births 1989 deaths Case Western Spartans football players Polymer scientists and engineers Scientists from Cleveland Tire industry people {{US-chemist-stub