Robert C. Doban

Robert C. Doban, 86, former senior vice president of science and technology at Owens-Corning Fiberglas, died on June 21 in Encinitas, Calif.

Born in Kenosha, Wis., Doban served as an officer in the Navy from 1942 to 1946, serving on the U.S.S. Wautauga in the South Pacific theater. He was awarded the Victory Ribbon and Asiatic-Pacific Theater Campaign Ribbon.

Doban earned a B.S. from Yale University in 1949 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1952.

Doban worked for DuPont in Wilming­ton, Del., from 1952 to 1974 in various supervisory and research management positions. He joined Owens-Corning in 1974 as vice president of technical services. He rose to the position of senior vice president and also served as the chief scientific officer and as a member of the company’s corporate executive committee. After retiring in 1989, Doban served as a member of the company’s Medical & Scientific Advisory Board and Technology Advisory Board.

During his career, Doban served on Sherwin Williams’ board of directors. He was chairman of the Building Advisory Board for the National Academy of Sciences and of the Engineering Sciences Advisory Board for the National Institute of Standards & Technology.

In retirement, Doban and his wife, Eleanore, moved to Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. He then served as a member of the Industrial Advisory Board for the departments of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and the Industrial Research Institute. He was an emeritus member of ACS, which he joined in 1950.

He is survived by his son, Geoffrey, and two granddaughters. His wife died in 2002.