William H. Manogue

William H. Manogue, 83, a retired DuPont research fellow, died on May 2 in Newark, Del.

Born in New York City, Manogue enlisted in the Navy V-12 Program at Dartmouth College during World War II. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1949 and went to work for the Army Chemical Center in Edgewood, Md.

Just before receiving a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 1957, Manogue joined DuPont as a senior research chemical engineer. During his 43-year career at the company, he invented the non-ozone-depleting 134A refrigerant for use in home and automotive air conditioners. He was credited with 19 patents, which were transferred to DuPont, and authored 29 technical papers before retiring as a research fellow from the company’s Central Research Department in 1999.

He was also a lecturer in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware Extension Division from 1957 to 1971 and an adjunct professor at the university from 1971 until 1999. From 1967 to 1968, he was a visiting lecturer in the chemical engineering department at the University of Colorado.

Manogue was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and received the Thomas H. Chilton Award from its Wilmington Section in 2000. He was a past-chair of the Philadelphia Catalysis Club and a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology, the American Vacuum Society, and the Catalysis Society. He was an emeritus member of ACS, which he joined in 1950.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Viola; three sons, William, James, and George; two daughters, Barbara Dempsey and Susan Adelman; three granddaughters; five grandsons; and a great-granddaughter.