He graduated from Elgin High School in Elgin, Illinois in 1927. Flory received a bachelor's degree from Manchester College (Indiana) in 1931 and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in 1934. His first position was at DuPont with Wallace Carothers.
h iː WORD_BOUNDARY ɡ ɹ æ d j uː eɪ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ʌ m WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ l d̠ʒ ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY h aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY s k uː l WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY ɛ l d̠ʒ ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ l ə n ɔɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY t w ɛ n t i WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ v ə n WORD_BOUNDARY f l ɔ ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ s iː v d WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY b æ t̠ʃ ə l ə ɹ z WORD_BOUNDARY d ɪ ɡ ɹ iː WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ʌ m WORD_BOUNDARY m æ n t̠ʃ ɛ s t ə ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY k ɑ l ɪ d̠ʒ WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n d iː æ n ə WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY θ ɜː t i WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ n WORD_BOUNDARY æ n d WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ WORD_BOUNDARY p iː eɪ t̠ʃ WORD_BOUNDARY d iː WORD_BOUNDARY f ɹ ʌ m ð ɪ WORD_BOUNDARY oʊ h aɪ oʊ WORD_BOUNDARY s t eɪ t WORD_BOUNDARY j uː n ɪ v ɜː s ɪ t i WORD_BOUNDARY ɪ n WORD_BOUNDARY n aɪ n t iː n h ʌ n d ɹ ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY θ ɜː t i WORD_BOUNDARY f ɔ ɹ WORD_BOUNDARY h ɪ z WORD_BOUNDARY f ɜː s t WORD_BOUNDARY p ə z ɪ ʃ ə n WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY æ t WORD_BOUNDARY d uː WORD_BOUNDARY p ɔ n t WORD_BOUNDARY w ɪ ð WORD_BOUNDARY w ɑ l ɪ s WORD_BOUNDARY k æ ɹ ʌ ð ə ɹ z WORD_BOUNDARY