June 21, 2014

Kevlar Inventor Stephanie Kwolek Dead at 90


Stephanie Kwolek, 83, shown in this June 20, 2007
 file photo taken in Brandywine Hundred, Del., wears regular house gloves
made with the Kevlar she invented. Jennifer Corbett/The News Journal/AP Photo

As one of the few pioneering female chemists in the 1960s, Stephanie Kwolek invented the flexible, tougher than steel fibers that were used to create life-saving body armor for law enforcement and soldiers.

Kwolek died this week at the age of 90, her co-workers at DuPont, the chemical company where Kwolek worked, confirmed to ABC News.