Carl Donald Keith (May 29, 1920 – November 9, 2008) was a chemist who was inventor of the three-way catalytic converter, which has played a dramatic role in reducing pollution from motor vehicles since their introduction in the mid-1970s. Keith was born on May 29, 1920 in Stewart Creek, West Virginia to Howard, a steelworker, and Mary Rawson Keith, who worked in a bakery. He received a bachelor's degree from Salem College in North Carolina in 1943, earned a master's degree in chemistry from Indiana University in 1945 and was awarded a doctorate from DePaul University in 1947.