he became a professor at stanford university in 1961. he became the jackson-wood professor there in 1966. he retired from stanford in 1975. he was awarded the nobel prize in chemistry in 1974 "for his fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of macromolecules." he remained active after his retirement, and consulted for ibm for some years. he and his wife emily catherine tabor (now dead) had three children, susan, melinda and john. susan has two children, elizabeth and mary. elizabeth has three children, katy greer, margaret greer, and sam greer. paul j flory died of a heart attack in big sur, california in 1985.