Robert D. Ford Science Scholarship

Robert D. Ford was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana in 1914 and died in Vallejo in 2003. He graduated from Hillsdale College in 1935 and received his master?s degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1938. He taught high school chemistry in Michigan and worked in the rubber industry in Detroit and San Diego before coming to Vallejo to work as a rubber technologist at Mare Island. He also taught chemistry and physics at the evening school program in Vallejo and served as an American technical advisor to the Turkish Navy for a year. He retired as a chemical engineer in 1976 after 30 years of work with the U.S. Navy.

Bob Ford had many interests and abilities. He obtained his pilot?s license in 1944 and later served as commander of the Vallejo Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. He was active in active in the American Chemistry Society, the Northern California Rubber Group, the BPOE, the Vallejo Friends of the Library, and the Vallejo Democratic Club. He served on the Vallejo Library Board and was also on the Board of Directors of the Solano Community College.
Bob Ford was married to Jane Ford for 52 years and had two daughters, Sarah Jane Ford and Susan F. Kirk. The Robert D. Ford Science Scholarship was established in 2003 by family and friends to honor his memory.