Luis Miramontes

Luis E. Miramontes was a Mexican chemist who co-invented and first synthesized norethisterone, the progestin used in one of the first oral contraceptives. He obtained his degree in chemical engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and worked as a researcher at Syntex, a pharmaceutical company. He also worked as a professor, director, and deputy director at various academic and research institutions in Mexico. He was awarded the Mexican National Prize in Chemistry in 1986 and was named the top chemical engineer of all times in 2011 by the Institution of Chemical Engineers. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 79.