Sidney Deeds Wells was a chemical engineer and inventor involved primarily in pulp and paper making processes. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 29, 1885. From 1899 to 1903, he attended Phillips Exeter Preparatory Academy where he was the recipient of an annual scholarship. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1907 and in 1921-1922 attended the University of Wisconsin as a graduate student.
An early specialist in the pulping of American woods, particularly southern woods, Wells was also interested in making paper and board from wood substitutes such as corn stalks and flax straw. His inventions were in the areas of pulp and paper making processes, instruments, and equipment.
Most of his professional career was spent in Wisconsin though he did frequent consultant work throughout the country. He was employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, 1911-1916 and 1917-1925; was director of Paper Mill Laboratories, Quincy, Illinois, 1925-1930; was technical director for Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Company, Port Edwards, Wisconsin, 1930-1932; worked for Combined Locks Paper Company, Appleton, Wisconsin, 1932-1935; was a partner in Paulson and Wells, engineering consultants, 1936-1938; and was research associate for the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton from 1938 until his retirement in 1953.
Wells participated as a member in several professional organizations: the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Association for the Advancement of Science, the Chemical Society, the Forestry Association, the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, the Society of American Foresters, and the American Pulp and Paper Mill Superintendents' Association.
He was married on June 3, 1916, to Hope Blanche Shank. They had seven children: Sidney Deeds, Jr., Hope DeMott, Helen Elizabeth, Martha Barron, Mary Beatrice, Eleanor Jean, and Benjamin. Wells died at the home of his son in Poolesville, Maryland, on May 16, 1954.
