Parsons, born in Dayton in 1900, was a pioneer developer and patentee of stainless-steel metal alloys in the 1930s and 1940s.
“His research and accomplishments came in in the nick of time during World War II, when materials were needed that could withstand the corrosive environment created through the process of separating uranium and plutonium” — two of the key elements needed to create the first atomic weapon, said Hattie Carwell, a former member of the hall’s selection committee who nominated Parsons for inclusion annually for some 20 years.
Carwell, a resident of Oakland, Calif., noted that Parsons’ name is on the Dayton Region Walk of Fame in Dayton.
“He had a significant impact with his patents, with the development of stainless steel,” she said in an interview.
Parsons formulated metal alloys that highly paid consultants said were impossible, the hall said.
At Dayton industrial component producer Durco, Parsons was the chief metallurgist and laboratory manager of an all-African American staff of chemists, the hall said in a release.
“His groundbreaking research and innovation left an indelible mark on the chemicals industry revolutionizing chemical processing word-wide,” the hall wrote “At that time, it was rare for an African-American to be a researcher and an industrial leader in technology development.”
His corrosion-resistant metal alloys enabled the company to produce vessels, pumps, valves, and fittings capable of handling the isolation of uranium and plutonium corrosive solutions processed in the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb during World War II, the hall said.
In 1929, Parsons received the first of eight patents involving the development and application of noncorrosive metals and began developing the steel formulation of a material known as “Durimet 20,” the hall said in its biographical page on Parsons.
Durimet 20 is prized for a composition that resists corrosion.
Parsons died in March 1989.
Durco commercially named one of the alloys, Durimet 20 (or “Alloy 20″). Durco was founded as the Duriron Casting Co. in 1912. In 1997, Durco merged with BW/IP, creating Flowserve Corp. Flowserve closed its Dayton foundry in 2015.
For more information about Parsons, including the “10 Things You Need to Know,” visit http://www.invent.org/inductees/james-parsons-jr.
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