TAPPI Elects Fellows and Awards Outstanding Young Professionals for 2020

TAPPI is pleased to announce the election of nine new Fellows, as well as five recipients of the 2020 Young Professionals of the Year Award.

Only a small percentage of industry professionals achieve TAPPI Fellows status. They represent every area of the forest products industry and hail from all over the world, creating a global community of men and women whose professionalism and meritorious contributions to the industry serve as inspiration to their colleagues.

Considerations for Fellows election include longstanding TAPPI Membership, exemplary volunteer leadership, and outstanding contributions to the industry’s knowledge base. The TAPPI Fellow designation is also conferred upon recipients of the Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal and Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Awards, and those who have served on TAPPI’s Board of Directors upon completion of their term.

The 2020 TAPPI Fellows are:

• John Bergin, Owner, Technical and Investor Consulting, LLC
• Fernando Bertolucci, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Suzano
• Jim Brewster, Retired, Former Senior Project Advisor, Irving Pulp & Paper, Limited
• Donald Haag, Vice President of Manufacturing Services, Packaging Corporation of America
• Mark Lewis, CEO of Sustainable Fiber Technologies (SFT) and Phoenix Pulp and Polymer, and recipient of the 2020 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award
• Przemyslaw Pruszynski, Ph.D., Consultant, Pruszynski Paper Chemistry Consulting, LLC
• Jack Tippett, Ph.D., Consultant, EnTech Engineering, PC
• Roland J. Trepanier, Ph.D., President, OpTest Equipment Inc.
• Angela Wensley, Ph.D., P.E., Retired. Former Consultant, Angela Wensley Engineering Inc.

The Young Professional of the Year is an annual honor that identifies aspiring young leaders in the global forest products, pulp, paper, tissue, packaging, and associated industries. Eligible nominees are ages 35 or younger with less than 10 years of industry experience. For 2020, TAPPI chose five recipients based on their outstanding leadership, community service, and problem-solving contributions to scientific or engineering projects.

The winners of the 2020 TAPPI Young Professionals of the Year awards are:

• Peyton Clifton, Mechanical Project Engineer, Domtar
• John DeJarnette, Senior Researcher, WestRock Corporation
• John Edwards, Operations Superintendent, Domtar
• Natasha Melton, Senior Researcher, WestRock Corporation
• Nika Wanserski, Shift Supervisor, Neenah, Inc.

Like the Nicholson/Joachim/Magnabosco awards previously announced by TAPPI, the Young Professional of the Year awards are also considered Board-level honors. Nominations for all 2021 Board-level awards are being accepted until August 1, 2020. To learn more about the individual awards and the nomination process, please visit TAPPI’s website.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/