Spencer Silver

Spencer Silver (1941 to 2021) was an American scientist at 3M who discovered the acrylic adhesive behind Post-it Notes. Born on 6 February 1941 in San Antonio, Texas, he received his doctorate from the University of Colorado, joined 3M in 1966 and remained there until his retirement in 1996. In 1968, while working to develop new classes of adhesives, he discovered an acrylic adhesive formed of tiny spheres that gave a pressure-sensitive adhesive with a high level of tack but a low degree of adhesion. Several years later Art Fry, a 3M researcher, coated paper with the adhesive and made repositionable notes, and Post-it Notes were introduced nationally in the United States in 1980. Silver was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2010.