Pulp and Paper Hall of Fame Announces 2015 Inductees

A founder of Kimberly-Clark and a man who developed in the 14th century a system to print the first mass-produced book in the world are among six people to be inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.

Havilah Babcock, David A. Bossen, Alf de Ruvo, Norm Dove, Bjarne Holmbom, and Wang Zhen have been announced as the 2015 inductees.

Here are their contributions, according to the hall of fame:

Babcock (deceased) was a co-founder of Kimberly-Clark, along with Alfred Kimberly, Charles Clark and Frank Shattuck. As VP of the new company, Babcock became a mentor of Frank Sensenbrenner and served as the pivotal link in the transition of leadership from the founding partners to F.J. Sensenbrenner, who eventually transformed Kimberly-Clark into a world leader of paper and tissue based consumer product.

Bossen (deceased) founded Measurex Corp. to pursue his vision of applying the emerging digital technology of mini-computers. The technology developed by Measurex and others subsequently led to improved paper quality, reduced paper losses, better machine efficiency, energy savings and optimized use of raw materials.

De Ruvo was the holder of a master of science in chemistry and a licentiate of engineering in paper technology. His scientific work started with solid state properties of cellulose and later merged into the realm of paper physics and chemistry. He spearheaded a composite materials approach on paper packaging materials. He also was very interested in the water absorption/sorption and surface chemistry effects in hygienic products.

Dove designed a better steam shower system for a fourdrinier and was awarded a patent for his invention in 1970. He then founded a company to produce and market the system, Devron Engineering Ltd. He refined his steam shower design and continued working on other inventions for the paper industry. By the end of 1990, Devron enjoyed a worldwide market share of 30% while competing against much larger companies.

Bjarne Holmbom was born in Finland. He received his master of science degree and a doctorate from the Åbo Akademi University. His interests were directed towards the chemistry of wood and the utilization of this for new products. He continued to work at the ÅA University, first as a research scientist and eventually as a professor. His studies are a superb combination of high-level basic and applied research. His research has had a major significance for the development of forest industry and wood-based innovations, creating new commercial fields building on the inherent chemistry of wood.

Zhen (deceased) was born in the late 13th century during the time of Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). He developed an innovative wooden-block movable type system to print the world’s first mass produced book, the Nong Shu, or Book of Farming (published 1313), a full century before Gutenberg developed movable type printing in Europe. His important innovation included the use of mechanical devices to sort and organize trays of the wooden block characters that greatly improved the speed and efficiency of typesetting.

The six inductees will bring the total number of inductees to 129. The induction ceremony is set for October 15.

 

 

The Paper Industry International Hall of Fame is located within the Paper Discovery Center in the historic Atlas Paper Mill in Appleton, Wis., USA.