After the article about my search for Wends who had been awarded patents was published in the TWHS Newsletter, I received several emails from TWHS members who had either been awarded patents, or who had relatives who had been awarded patents. I was excited by all of them and I wanted to share with you what was shared with me.
The first email I received was from Richard Gruetzner, Vice President of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society and Museum. Richard told me about a patent that was awarded to the Reverend Johann August Proft (John A. Proft). Reverend Proft was the brother of Magdalene Proft Gruetzner, Richard Gruetzner’s 2nd great grandmother.
Johann A. Proft, as a young man in Bautzen, completed an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker before studying to become a missionary. After arriving in New York with a group of other missionaries, Johann Proft travelled to Saint Louis and enrolled in the seminary. Reverend Proft was the first pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Fedor. Reverend Proft used his wood working experience to build a house in Fedor and the baptismal font for St. Paul Lutheran Church in Serbin. In 1880, Reverend Proft moved to Springtown, Missouri . While there, he used his wood working skills and ingenuity to file a patent titled “Extension table” on September 24, 1881, and was awarded patent number 255,454 on March 28, 1882.
If you would like to find out more about Reverend Proft, there is a nice article about his life on the Wendish Research Exchange written by Robert Proft and George Nielsen. You can find the article on George Nielsen’s blog using this link http://wendishresearch.org/blog_nielsen/?e=44. Additional information regarding Reverend Proft can be found on the Wendish Research Exchange under the Forum titled “Texas Place Names” with the subtitle, “Fedor, Lee County, Texas – Daughter of Serbin” using this link: http://wendishresearch.org/a_board/viewthread.php?tid=2711.
James Dube also emailed me to tell me that he was awarded a patent. The patent is co-owned with Ralph Miller. The patent is titled “Process for the purification of O,O-di(lower) alkyldithiophosphoric acids.” The patent was filed on May 10, 1977 and awarded on June 24, 1980. The patent number is 4,209,491.
I received two emails from Robert Gloyna. Robert and his brother Dr. Earnest Gloyna, were both awarded multiple patents. The Gloyna brothers’ paternal grandparents immigrated from the Bad Muskau region in Upper Lusatia (now part of Germany and Poland) in the 1880’s to Texas. For more information about their family, please see the Gloyna/Hentschel Genealogy Book in the Serbin library.
Robert R. Gloyna has had over fifty years of engineering experience. Fifty of those years have been as a licensed engineer. He and Travis R. Dickinson filed for a patent on November 30, 1959. They were awarded patent number 3,010,151 for a “Modified double-barrel extrusion apparatus” on November 28, 1961. Robert R. Gloyna, and four other applicants, filed for a patent for a “Supercritical oxidation apparatus for treating water with side injection ports” on April 1, 1994. Their patent number is 5,582,715 and was awarded on December 10, 1996. Robert Gloyna’s brother, Dr. Earnest Gloyna was also very talented.
Dr. Earnest Gloyna was the Dean of Engineering at the University of Texas from 1970 until 1987. Dr. Earnest Gloyna was awarded one patent before becoming Dean of Engineering, and another six after his tenure. His first patent had two co-signers, and was awarded patent number 5,358,546 on October 25, 1968 for a “Method and Apparatus for Multiple State and Recycle Wet Oxidation.” His other patents are:
• “Apparatus for Reverse Injection Wet Oxidation, Sintered Material Catalytic Reaction” was awarded on June 6, 1995 to Dr. Earnst Gloyna and one co-signer. The patent number is 5,421,998.
• “Method and Apparatus for Reverse Injection Wet Oxidation, Sintered Material Catalytic Reaction, Sintered Material Filtration at Supercritical Conditions, Sintered Material Gas Separation, High Temperature Pressurization”, patent number 5,454,950; was granted on October 3, 1995 to Dr. Earnest Gloyna and one co-signer.
• On June 18, 1996 Dr. Earnest Gloyna, and one co-signer, were awarded patent number 5,527,466 for “Cross-flow Filtration Apparatus and Method.”
• Dr. Earnest Gloyna and two co-signers were awarded patent number 5,565,616 on October 25, 1996 for “Controlled Hydrothermal Processing.”
• Patent number 5,578,647 was awarded to Dr. Earnest Gloyna and one co-signer on November 28, 1996 for “Method of Producing Off-Gas Having a Selected Ratio of Carbon Monoxide to Hydrogen.”
• And last but not least, Dr. Earnest Gloyna and one co-signer were awarded a patent for “Method for Selective Separation of Products at Hydrothermal Conditions” on July 28, 1998. The patent number is 5,785,868.
While searching for Dr. Earnest Gloyna I found this from the May 2008 edition of the “Engineering Our Future”, from Texas Tech University College of Engineering:
“On January 28, 2008, Dr. Earnest Gloyna, D.E., P.E., D.E.E., former Dean of the University of Texas College of Engineering, received The Presidential Citation for 2007 from the University of Texas at Austin.
According to The University of Texas, “The award was created in 1979 to recognize extraordinary contributions of individuals who personify the university’s commitment to the task of transforming lives.” Other recipients of the 2007 award include Hector De Leon, an Austin attorney, and the late Mrs. Lyndon Baines “Lady Bird” Johnson. Dr. Gloyna, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. De Leon will have Presidential Citation Endowed Scholarships named in their honor.
Dr. Earnest Gloyna earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Texas Technical College in 1946, and was named a Distinguished Engineer for the College of Engineering in 1971.”
Dr. Earnest Gloyna received his Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas in 1949, and his doctorate degree (PHD) in Engineering from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1951. If you would like to know more about Dr. Earnest Gloyna’s life, check out the book written by Davis L. Ford, Reflections of a Soldier and Scholar: The Life of Earnest F. Gloyna.
Reverend Proft, James Dube, and both Gloyna brothers (Robert, R. and Dr. Earnest Gloyna) are incredible engineers. While I cannot tell you the details of all of their patents because I do not understand them, I realize they are all people who wanted to improve things for others. Based on the number of patents they were awarded collectively, they have succeeded.
If you would like to know more about any of these patents, please leave me a comment and I will be happy to respond to you.
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