Arthur Fry (born 19 August 1931) is a retired American inventor and scientist. He is credited as the co-creator of the Post-it note, an item of office stationery manufactured by 3M. As of 2006, Post-it note products are sold in more than 100 countries.
Arthur Fry was born in Minnesota, as a child he showed signs of being an inventor making his own toboggans from scraps of wood.
Arthur Fry attended the University of Minnesota, where he studied Chemical Engineering. While still a student in 1953, Arthur Fry began working for 3M in New Product Development he stayed with 3M his entire working life.
Art Fry was a chemist at 3M, who in 1974 used an only-slightly sticky adhesive invented by Spencer Silver to secure bookmarks in his church hymnals. When the bookmarks were removed, they left a sticky residue on the hymnals' pages, so Fry tinkered with the chemical formula to make the adhesive even less sticky. Of course, Fry and Silver had invented "Post-It" notes, but it took several years for their supervisors at 3M to see the value in a glue that did not stick well. Post-It notes were introduced in 1980, in 1985 sales topped $100M, and by 1998 annual sales of Post-It notes and other products based on Silver's adhesive generated a billion dollars in sales annually. Fry and Silver, being employees, never received any royalties, but in 1986 Fry was honored with the company's top technical title, corporate researcher. "My biggest reward," he said, "is to see so many people use and appreciate my product."
