Keith D. Millis: the father of ductile iron.

World War II prompted a chance assignment for a 28-year-old metallurgist that led to metalcasting's most significant discovery of the 21st century.

The son of a postal worker, Keith Millis was born on May 20, 1915 in Rensselaer, New York. As an example of his work ethic, Millis earned $1200 toward his college education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst. in Troy, New York. Working his way through college during, the Great Depression, he received his B.S. in metallurgical engineering and M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1938 and 1939, respectively. He then joined the International Nickel Co. (INCO) at its research laboratory in Bayonne, New Jersey, where he was originally assigned to the nonferrous alloys group. At that same time, the ferrous group of INCO was marketing a newly developed alloy, Ni-Hard, which was a cast iron containing about 4.5% nickel (Ni) and 1.5% chromium (Cr) and was being offered for its outstanding wear resistance. Because Cr shipments from Africa to the U.S. were jeopardized by the international unrest of World War II, INCO had reason to be concerned about its availability.

Luckily for today's ferrous foundrymen, this concern resulted in Millis' transfer to the research lab's ferrous group, where he was assigned to investigate elements that could replace Cr as carbide, formers in Ni-Hard. As you will see in the pages that follow, this chance assignment led to an incredible discovery for the 28-year-old research metallurgist.

Following his discovery of ductile iron in 1943 and the ensuing patent in 1949, Millis, along with Albert Gagnebin (whose name also appears on the patent, along with Norman Pilling), transferred to INCO's newly formed ductile iron section in New York to participate in the commercial development of the material. In 1955, Millis was placed in charge of this section. In '62, he headed all the product research development activities relating to ferrous cast materials. In 1966, he was appointed foundry industry sales manager for INCO. Then, after serving as assistant to the vice president for two years, he retired from INCO in 1974, but was retained as a consultant on foundry matters and products.

In 1975, after serving nine years of service as a director of the Ductile Iron Society (DIS), Millis accepted the position of executive director of the organization that he helped found 27 years earlier. He also was a director-at-large and regional vice president of AFS, as well as a trustee-at-large of the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF), serving as its president in 1967-68.

His list of awards is many. They include an AFS Gold Medal in 1952; an Annual Achievement of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Metals in 1959; Franklin Institute's Francis J. Clamer Medal in 1962; Gold Medal of the Gray and Ductile Iron Society "for his outstanding contribution to the foundry industry as a co-developer of ductile iron and for his devoted efforts to expand the usage in highly competitive markets" in 1964; 1965 DIS Annual Award "for his outstanding contribution to the industry and its technology," and the 1965 Modem Pioneers in Industry Award of the NAM for outstanding contribution to development and research for his work as co-discoverer of ductile iron. He also gave the Tom Makemson Memorial Lecture at the Australian Assn. of Foundry Institute's 7th National Convention, and he delivered the Charles Edgar Hoyt Memorial Lecture at the AFS Casting Congress in 1972.

Having suffered from emphysema, his lung collapsed in 1966, followed by a collapse of his other lung in 1980. Remarkably, he continued to serve as a leader in the ductile iron industry. "I guess he wasn't ready to go yet," said his son, Steve. Surely, Keith must have felt that there was too much work on ductile iron yet to be done. While he stepped down from the DIS post in 1990, he remained the metal's steadfast promoter until his death on July 6, 1992. "Ductile iron was his life," said Steve.

Taylor & Fenn's Arthur Avedisian wrote this about his longtime friend following Millis' death in 1992: "I became just one of the thousands all over the world whose lives were dramatically altered by this man in the same way he dramatically altered the shape of the graphite in cast iron."

To continue Millis' legacy, DIS established a Keith D. Millis Scholarship Fund to ensure that the industry continues to attract and capture the talent of tomorrow-perhaps even one who will come upon metalcasting's next big discovery.