TAPPI Honors Dr. Gary A. Baum With The Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal
Dr. Gary A. Baum has been designated the 2009 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medalist. Awarded to recognize Baum's achievements of proven applied significance to the world's pulp, paper, board, and forest products industries and the other industries that TAPPI serves, the Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal is the premier honor bestowed in the industry. The TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal will be presented to Gary during the PaperCon '09 Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, May 31 through June 3, 2009.
Gary has had a long and distinguished career in the paper industry. He is currently president and partner of PaperFuture Technologies LLC, a company focused on application of new techniques and uses for paper with an emphasis on intellectual property, technology assessment, education and product development. Prior to forming PaperFuture Technologies in 2002, Gary was Vice President, Research and Academic Affairs and Professor of Physics at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (formerly IPC) where he was responsible for providing intellectual, technical and administrative leadership in planning, coordinating and maintaining the missions of IPST.
Gary also served as tenured professor and Head of the Department of Wood and Paper Science at North Carolina State University from 1994 to 1996, where he oversaw the Pulp and Paper Program, the Wood Science Program, a Wood Products Extension Office and two Pilot Plants.
From 1989 through 1994, Gary was the Director of Corporate Research and Development with the James River Corporation (now part of Koch Industries). Working with five business units to develop new or improved products and processes; he oversaw a research portfolio that included both fundamental and applied projects and also developed quality initiatives that earned the respect of business units and corporate officers.
Gary entered the paper industry in 1969 when he joined the Institute of Paper Chemistry (IPC) in Appleton, WI, after receiving his doctorate in physics from Oklahoma State University. At IPC he served as Professor of Physics (1976 to 1988); Head of the Department of Intermediate Studies (1978 to 1988) and Director of the Paper Materials Division (1983 to1988). It was at IPC where Gary's team of students and associates conducted research on the three dimensional physical properties of paper. This included nondestructive ultrasonic measurements of the nine orthotropic elastic stiffness of paper using both laboratory and on-machine measurements. This work has led to a number of practical applications that are being used in paper mills today.
Gary's TAPPI membership began in 1972 and since then he has contributed to the betterment of the association in many ways. Elected as a TAPPI Fellow in 1987, he has served on the TAPPI Board of Directors, and the TAPPI Foundation Board of Directors. He received the Process and Product Quality Division Award and Hunter Prize in 1986 and the R&D Division Award and Aiken Prize in 1994. He has chaired numerous committees including the 1996 Industry Needs Workshop Committee, the BOD Research Committee, the Journal of Pulp and Paper Science Joint Committee, and the Foundation Research Funding Committee. In addition, he has served on the Research Management Committee and held all offices in the R&D Division and Paper Physics Committee.
Gary has also served the betterment of the profession in many ways. He has been an invited keynote speaker or lecturer at many international events and has more than 30 refereed publications, authored or coauthored seven books, six book chapters and four patents.
In addition, Gary has been a technical or academic program reviewer for a number of international funding agencies and academic institutions. In the US he has served on the Department of Energy Sensors Advisory Committee, the National Research Council - National Materials Advisory Board and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory Liaison Committee. He has been an associate scientific editor for the Journal of Pulp & Paper Science and editorial advisor for the Paper Trade Journal. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on Preservation for the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the International Association of Scientific Papermakers, the Fundamental Research Committee (London), the Society of Wood Science and Technology, the American Physical Society and is an elected Fellow in the International Academy of Wood Science.
The TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award is the highest honor that the Association can bestow upon an individual. Established in 1928, the Gold Medal is granted to those "who have made preeminent scientific and engineering achievements of proven applied benefit to the world's pulp, paper, board, and forest product industries. The forest product industries include forestry, derived products, their process technology, and their applications." Gunnar W. E. Nicholson was a distinguished paper industry engineer and manager for nearly 75 years. He served as President of the Tennessee River Pulp and Paper Company prior to his retirement. Nicholson joined TAPPI in 1925, was elected TAPPI President in 1946, and received the TAPPI Gold Medal in 1954.
SOURCE: TAPPI