George Dugan

George Dugan, age 93, of Wilmington, DE, passed away on January 4, 2026.

He was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre, PA and was the youngest of seven children of the late Olga and Andrew Dugan. George graduated from Kings College, receiving a degree in Chemistry. He continued graduate studies at Drexell and Universities of Pennsylvania and Delaware. George attended programs in Electrical Properties of Polymers at MIT and Engineering and Management at Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He proudly served his country during the Korean War in the US Army.

George had a 40-year career at Hercules retiring in 2000 as Senior Research Scientist. While at Hercules, he had an accomplished career; he developed and patented the first commercial instruments for simulation C, H, N, S analysis. George also helped establish the Research Center for Energetic Materials (RCEM) at New Mexico Tech, a consortium of industrial laboratories, the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. Lastly, he established the Thermal Analysis Laboratory at Hercules RC widely recognized as a state-of-the-art world-class facility.

He was a member of the Chemical Engineering Society and an avid golfer and sports fan.

George is survived by his wife of 68 years, Marie Dugan; three children, George Dugan (Eunice Paik), Joanne Dugan (Ludovic Moulin) and Annette Dugan (Craig Cassidy); two grandsons, Hugo Moulin and Max Vadset. He is also preceded in death by six siblings.

A mass will be held on Saturday, March 21 at 11am at Holy Rosary Church, 3200 Philadelphia Pk., Claymont, DE. A time for fellowship and memories will be announced.