Four researchers from Standard Oil Development Co. of New Jersey (now Exxon) in Linden, achieved one of the most important chemical engineering breakthroughs of the last century. In 1942, the quartet, affectionately dubbed the "four horsemen" by their colleagues because of their team's effectiveness, developed the fluid catalytic cracking process.

This process, whereby large hydrocarbon molecules are broken into smaller ones at high temperatures, enabled petroleum refiners to transform crude oil into high-octane gasoline. Today, fluid catalytic cracking is used worldwide to produce 500 million gallons of gasoline daily, approximately 50 percent of global demand. Historians say that this invention was instrumental to the Allies' air victories in World War II. They also credit it with ushering in the age of the automobile in the last century and the development of a multitude of other refined petroleum products such as plastics, fabrics and cosmetics.

The four inventors - all of them then residing in New Jersey - included Donald L. Campbell, then of Short Hills, now of Bay Head, the late Homer Z. Martin, Ph.D. (1910-1993) formerly of Elizabeth, the late Eger V. Murphree (1898-1962) and the late Charles W. Tyson (1900-1977) both formerly of Summit.

Donald L. Campbell
Born in Clinton, Iowa, in 1904, Donald L. Campbell, Bay Head, has always been fascinated by inventing and solving problems. Campbell spent 41 years with Exxon, 25 of them with Exxon Research and Engineering Company. In September 1999, Campbell was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Akron, OH. In October 1999, he received the Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award, presented by the U.S. Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C. He attended Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Business School, Boston. When he retired in 1969, Campbell had amassed 30 patents for Exxon.

Homer Z. Martin
Martin worked from 1937 until his 1973 retirement as a research chemical engineer at Exxon Research and Engineering Company. His accomplishments include garnering 82 patents. Martin received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, in 1931, and master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Upon retiring to Sun City, AZ in 1973, he joined the Sun City Symphony and Musicians clubs, Fine Arts Society, Doctor's Quartet, Sun City Chamber Group, and Men's Golf Association. He was a member of the American Chemical Society and American Institute of Engineers.

Eger V. Murphree
Born in Bayonne in 1898, Murphree moved to Kentucky with his family as a youngster. He received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics and a master's degree in chemistry from Kentucky University. Upon receiving his degrees, he worked for several years as a high school teacher and football coach, then he attended MIT. In 1924, he worked at Solvay Process Company as a chemical engineer, and in 1930, joined what was then Standard Oil Development Co. of New Jersey. From 1947 to 1962, he served as president of Standard Oil Development Company, renamed Esso Research and Engineering in 1955. In 1956, he was given the job of directing military projects related to the guided-missile program.

He served one year as special assistant to former U.S. Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson. Murphree, who also served as a member of the committee that organized the Manhattan Project, was widely recognized as a leader in the fields of synthetic toulene, butadiene and hydrocarbon synthesis, fluid catalytic cracking, fluid hydroforming, and fluid coking.

Charles W. Tyson
Born in Chicago in 1900, Tyson received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served as director of the petroleum development division before his appointment in 1961 as special assistant to the vice president of Exxon Research and Engineering. At his retirement in 1962, he held 50 patents.