Eugene du Pont was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 businessman who served as the first head of modern day DuPont

DuPont

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...

. Son of Alexis Irénée du Pont and grandson of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont

Eleuthère Irénée du Pont

Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours , known as Irénée du Pont, or E.I. du Pont, was a French-born Huguenot chemist and industrialist who immigrated to the United States in 1799 and founded the gunpowder manufacturer, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company...

. Eugene graduated from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 and joined the business in 1861. He was an assistant to Lammot du Pont

Lammot du Pont

Lammot du Pont I was a key member of the Du Pont family in the mid-nineteenth century. His father was Alfred V. du Pont, the eldest son and successor of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of DuPont. He obtained a chemistry degree from the University of Pennsylvania and entered into the family...

 at the Brandywine Mills laboratory and by 1886 filed two patent applications (gunpowder press and new variety of powder, brown prismatic). He became junior partner in 1864. He succeeded Henry A. du Pont

Henry A. du Pont

Henry Algernon du Pont , known as "Colonel Henry", was an American soldier and politician from Winterthur, near Greenville, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the American Civil War, and a member of the Republican Party, who served two terms as U.S...

 as senior partner in 1889.

As senior partner, Eugene saw the completion of a new office in Wilmington

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

 and the new invention called the telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

. He saw the rise of the dynamite industry and helped form the Eastern Dynamite Company in 1895. In 1899, the du Pont company became E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. After Eugene's death, the company was brought under control by three of his nephews, Alfred I. du Pont

Alfred I. du Pont

Alfred Irénée du Pont was an American industrialist, financier and philanthropist. A member of the influential Du Pont family, Alfred du Pont first rose to prominence through his work in his family's Delaware-based gunpowder manufacturing plant, E. I...

, T. Coleman du Pont

T. Coleman du Pont

Thomas Coleman du Pont was an American engineer and politician, from Greenville, Delaware. He was President of the of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, and a member of the Republican Party who served parts of two terms as United States Senator from Delaware...

 and Pierre S. du Pont

Pierre S. du Pont

Pierre Samuel du Pont was president of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company from 1915 to 1919, and served on its Board of Directors until 1940...

. His daughter Amy Elizabeth du Pont

Amy Elizabeth du Pont

Amy Elizabeth du Pont was a prominent member of the du Pont family of American industrialists. Known as "Miss Amy", she was the youngest daughter of Eugene du Pont; she never married...

 was a prominent benefactor of the University of Delaware

University of Delaware

The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

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