Spencer Silver

ABOUT SPENCER SILVER

Chemist whose development of a re-usable adhesive led to the co-invention of the Post-It Note in 1974. He won 3M's highest honors for his contributions to engineering and research.

He received a degree in chemistry from Arizona State University in 1962, and he subsequently earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado.

Arthur Fry initially used Silver's unique adhesive to mark pages in a church hymnal (Fry sang in the choir, and his bookmarks frequently slipped out and caused him to lose his place).

He and his wife, Linda Anne Martin Silver, married in 1965. The couple's two daughters, Allison Anne Silver and Jennifer Lynne Silver, were born in 1966 and 1969, respectively.

Silver's co-inventor Arthur Fry was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.