Recognizing a Paper Industry Pioneer

 

Charles "Chuck" Klass was inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame (PIIHF) in a ceremony held in Appleton, Wis., USA, on Oct. 6, 2016. This induction recognizes Klass as a pioneer of the world’s paper industry.

 

"Membership in TAPPI has been a keystone in my career over the past 58 years," Klass told Larry Montague, TAPPI president and CEO, who was in attendance. "It was a key to achieving the accomplishments that resulted in my being chosen for the Hall of Fame."

 

Klass is one of six inductees for 2016 honored at the Annual Banquet and Induction Ceremony. The Honors Committee of the PIIHF Board of Directors considers nominees based on their significant contributions to the fields of Academics, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Founding, Leadership, Marketing/Sales, Research and Development, Service, and Technology. 

 

With more than five decades of paper industry experience, Klass is recognized as an expert in the development of coated and other value-added papers, processing and use of recycled fiber, and application of innovative technology to the paper industry. He currently serves as adjunct professor of Paper Engineering at Western Michigan University.  He is a TAPPI Fellow and has received the TAPPI Coating and Graphic Arts Division Leadership and Service Award, as well as the 2015 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award. Klass has published 164 technical papers, including many in TAPPI Journal.

 

The other 2016 Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Thomas Gardner, CEO of Gardner Systems and a longtime TAPPI member, for technical achievements including the development of the Gardner Dryer.
• Niilo Heikki Hakkarainen (deceased), former CEO of UPM, for innovation in the area of thermo-mechanical pulping and exceptional leadership.
• Otto Kress (deceased), first technical director of the Institute of Paper Chemistry, TAPPI Fellow and former recipient of the Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal, for visionary leadership and academic service.
• Irwin Pearl (deceased), Institute of Paper Chemistry scientist and TAPPI member, for achievements in research to develop value-added products from lignin in black liquor and other pulping byproducts. 
• Juhani Strömberg, president of Raflatac, for technical achievements including the development of water-based label stock laminates, as well as for leadership in the use of information technology.  

TAPPI congratulates Chuck Klass and all of the 2016 inductees to the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame. For more information on PPIHF visit the Hall of Fame website.