Roll of Honor - Herbert Abraham

Herbert Abraham

Herbert Abraham can probably be called the father of the asphalt roofing industry. Upon graduating from Columbia University in 1903 he joined the Standard Paint Company, later the Ruberoid Company, because it was small and because his organic chemistry background fitted him for the field of asphalt technology and application. He developed various improvements in asphalt roofing products and spearheaded the development of a number of testing devices and procedures which were later standardized by the industry.

Mr. Abraham worked his way up to the Presidency of Ruberoid, later becoming Chairman of the Board, a position from which he retired in 1959. One of his outstanding contributions to the industry was his authorship of a book entitled “Asphalts and Allied Substances,” a volume of more than 2100 pages now in its sixth edition. This work is widely recognized as the most comprehensive and authoritative work on asphalt, its history and its use.

Elected: 1966