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iiraiic^Mv. in i:»3S'. as U, result ef the wn.r in ?:i»»v»tn% iT>,idi-ywas recalled to France * ν Jit** Frenoh. novernmont to discuas thft processing of aviation gasoline. As the war ccntinueu anu the Nazis over man France, rloudry rallied American sympathies U-c the cause of the Free French. H«* founded and became the first president of France Forever, Inc., in 1910. That same year the National Association of Manufacturers awarded him the honor of Modern Pioneer, and the Pennsylvania Military College con ferred upon him tho honorary degree of doctor of science, as did Grove City College in 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor—and the Γ ni ted States entered World War II. Houdry immediately became an Ameri can citizen and directed his activities toward developing new catalytic methods for the production of syn thetic rubber. During the same period his two sons were seeing service in the lT. S. Army. In the first part of the war his earlier-developed catalytic cracking units wore supplying 90% of all aviation gasoline base stock made in this country. It has been said that without the 59 Houdry-licensed plants it would have been impossible to turn out aviation gasoline in the quantities needed by the Air Forces of the allied nations. In tho past Harold L. Ickes has referred to Houdry's catalytic cracking process as "the last nail in the coffin of the Axis." Since his retirement from the Houdry Process Corp. early this year (at which time he held 71 patents), Houdry has been devoting his time to other rerearch problems, an occasional game of golf for relaxation, and visits from his younger son, Jacques, who is studying chemical engineering at Princeton Uni versity. Pierre Houdry, the elder son, is associated with his father in research work.
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