Frank M. Precopio

Frank M. Precopio ’48, of Lansdale, Pa.; Feb. 13. After earning a PhD in chemistry from Yale, he joined the General Electric Company in their research facility in Schenectady, N.Y., working on wire and cable coatings. In 1955 he filed a patent for peroxide cured polyethylene, which later became known as crosslinked polyethylene and revolutionized the wire and cable industry. He left GE after 15 years and became the director of research at Amchem Products in Ambler, Pa. The company developed several significant products under his direction and eventually he became president, serving as vice president and general manager after Amchem was acquired by Henkel Corp. He retired in 1990.  Having helped his son purchase Summers Laboratories’s line of dermatological pharmaceuticals, he joined Summers Labs as research director. He retired from Summers Labs in 2017. He is survived by his wife, Rita, and two sons.