Désirée Le Beau, PhD was a colloid chemist with extensive experience and expertise in reprocessing and recycling synthetic and natural rubber. Educated in Europe, she worked at a rubber works in Vienna and as a consultant in Paris before coming to the US to escape the war. She worked in a rubber factory and as a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology before landing her career job as the first female Director of Research for the Midwest Rubber Reclaiming Company, the first woman to hold such a position in the rubber industry. She was responsible for developing materials from scrap rubber, primarily old tires, for reuse in new products. Le Beau earned five patents that covered chemical processes for rubber material reuse and in one case, a pad for railroad ties made from reused rubber materials. In addition to receiving the 1959 Achievement Award from the Society of Women Engineers, the American Chemical Society honored her for service to the organization.