Robert Banks was born on November 24, 1921 in Piedmont. He was a fellow research chemist of J. Paul Hogan. They began working together in 1946, and in 1951 invented "crystalline polypropylene" and "high-density polyethylene" (HDPE). These plastics were initially known by the name Malex. He joined the Phillips Petroleum company in 1946 and worked there until he retired in 1985.
