Herbert Henry Dow

Herbert Henry Dow (February 26, 1866 – October 15, 1930) was an American chemical industrialist who founded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical. A graduate of the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio, he was a prolific inventor of chemical processes, compounds, and products, notably bromine extraction from brine water, and was a successful businessman.

Herbert Henry Dow was born in 1866 in Belleville, Ontario, the eldest child of Americans Joseph Henry Dow, an inventor and mechanical engineer, and his wife, Sarah Bunnell, who were from Derby, Connecticut. When the infant boy was six weeks old, the family returned to their hometown. They moved again in 1878, this time to Cleveland to follow Joseph's job with the Derby Shovel Manufacturing Company.

After graduating from high school in 1884, Dow enrolled in the Case School of Applied Science (now known as Case Western Reserve University). While at Case, he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He began specialized research into the chemical composition of brines in Ohio and nearby areas. He discovered that brine samples from Canton, Ohio and Midland, Michigan were very rich in bromine, which at the time was a primary ingredient in medicines and was widely used in the fledgeling photographic industry. Following his graduation from Case in 1888, Dow worked for a year as a chemistry professor at Huron Street Hospital College in Cleveland, while continuing his research into the extraction of chemicals from brine.

In 1889, Dow received his first patent after inventing a more cost-effective and streamlined process for bromine extraction. He quickly formed his own company but was bankrupt within the year. His associates were impressed with his work and in 1890 helped him to found the Midland Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan. Dow continued his work extracting bromine, and by early 1891 he had invented the Dow process, a method of bromine extraction using electrolysis to oxidize bromide to bromine.

Dow wanted to expand his research of electrolysis to yield other chemicals. His financial backers did not approve of his continued research and fired him from the Midland Chemical Company. He continued his research, developing a process to extract chlorine and caustic soda from sodium chloride.

After seeking funding from potential backers in Cleveland, including family friends and former Case School of Applied Science classmates, Dow secured funds from James T. Pardee, Albert W. Smith, J. H. Osborn, and Cady Staley. In 1895, Dow moved his young family to Massillon, Ohio and founded the Dow Process Company to develop the production mechanism for his process. The following year he returned to Midland, where he formed the Dow Chemical Company as successor to the Dow Process Company. The Dow Process Company was incorporated with 57 original stockholders. Within three years, his new company purchased the Midland Chemical Company.

In 1899, Dow started the Dow Gardens in Midland, Michigan, as a personal hobby on the grounds of their residence.

Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland, Michigan opened in 1968, and is named after Dow. Among his awards is the Perkin Medal, received in 1930.

His home in Midland, Michigan known as Herbert H. Dow House, was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Grace established the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation during 1936 in memory of her husband Herbert to enhance the quality of life for everyone in the Midland area and in the state of Michigan. In the years since, nearly half a billion dollars has been donated to worthy projects and programs in the state. The foundation's offices are located in a building on the grounds of the Dow home and gardens.