L. Louis Hegedus grew up in Szolnok, Hungary. After completing the chemical engineering program of the Technical University of Budapest, he was recruited to work at the Research Institute for the Organic Chemical Industry, where he helped develop a polyester process. After touring Europe, Hegedus secured a job as a chemical engineer at Daimler-Benz in Mannheim, Germany. He was next accepted into the chemical engineering PhD program at University of California, Berkeley. He published seven papers from his dissertation and wrote the first book on catalyst poisoning. Hegedus next worked on the catalytic converter for General Motors, then accepted a job as a director of central research at W. R. Grace and Company. He was then recruited to be research vice president for North America at Elf Atochem. Hegedus has retired and founded his own consulting firm, and been a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Research Triangle Institute.