Giuliana Tesoro

Guiliana Cavaglieri was born to Gino and Margherita Maroni Cavaglieri, in Venice, Italy, during the center of Facism’s rise in the region. Her parents were wealthy Jewish people with college degrees, and the prestige certainly carried over to Tesoro who began third grade at the early age of six. Tesoro graduated from Liceo Classico Marco Polo High School in 1938 shortly after her father passed away in 1934. Unfortunately, she was denied entrance into any Italian school due to her Jewish identity, as the nation’s fascist ideas forbade Jews from attending higher education. That did not stop Tesoro, who traveled to Geneva, Switzerland to obtain an x-ray technician diploma, and eventually to the United States to further her studies in chemistry.^[2] Her passion led her to attempt to enter the PhD program at Yale University, as a teenager. Tesoro self-studied the course material for months before successfully passing several examinations and completing some senior-level courses, both of which were expedited due to the Second World War occurring at the time. At the age of 21, Giuliana obtained a PhD in organic chemistry. A year later, she married a newswriter named Victor Tesoro who was working at Yale during her studies, in the heart of New York City. Four years later, Tesoro officially became a U.S. citizen.

Over the rest of her life, Tesoro moved up the ranks at various corporations and educational institutions, pursuing her love of the basic science of chemistry.^[3] She started working as a research chemist at Calco Chemical Company, then moved to Onyx Oil and Chemical Company under the same title. During her time at Onyx, she rose from the head of the organic synthesis department in 1946 to the associate director in 1955. Next, Tesoro served as assistant director of organic research over a roughly ten-year tenure before moving to the Textile Research Institute for two years. In 1969, she accepted a position as a senior chemist at Burlington Industries and was appointed director of chemical research in 1971, where she was a prolific inventor, having been granted more than two dozen patents in 1970, alone. She then taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1972 to 1976 as a visiting professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, moving on to a role as an adjunct professor and a senior research scientist.^[4] Tesoro then ventured back to New York City as she was appointed research professor of polymer chemistry at Polytechnic University (now the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, as of 2015) in Brooklyn, New York, from 1982 until her retirement in 1996.^[5] Tesoro lectured often on polymers at conferences worldwide while at Polytechnic University. On the side, she served as an editor for the Textile Research Journal.  

Giuliana Tesoro died on September 29, 2002, in Dobbs Ferry, New York, at the age of 81.

Tesoro made a number of advances in textile processing and organic compounds that improved textile performance for everyday consumers as well as efficiency for manufacturing systems. Among her contributions were a better conceptualization of fiber chemical modification, permanent press properties, cross-linking agents, pharmaceutical synthesis, and most notably, created flame-resistant fibers.

Flame-resistant fabrics

Inspiration for such fibers came from wanting to prevent potential harm in certain environments such as on the roadway and uniforms. In prior times, people would wear clothing from natural material like cotton, which is highly flammable, and not suited for high-risk situations like firefighter emergencies, or simply a car’s tires running along a roadway creating friction rapidly.^[6] Tesoro’s creation has expanded into equipment such as Kevlar vests and industrial worker uniforms.

Tesoro was a member of several committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council concerning toxic materials and fire safety. Other committees she was a part of include the Fiber Society (founder/president in 1974), Sigma Xi, a Gordon Research Conference committee, the American Chemical Society, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, the American Institute of Chemists, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1963, Tesoro was awarded the Olney Medal of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. She was the recipient of the Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award in 1978. Additionally, Tesoro earned the American Dyestuff Reporter Award.

• Partial list of Tesoro's patents