Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 15, 2007--The Ben Franklin Honor Society of PIA/GATF inducted eight new members at their annual black-tie dinner and awards ceremony on Friday, November 9 at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel, Chicago, Illinois. The newly honored members were nominated by veteran members of the society and selected by a vote of the Ben Franklin Society officers.
Forrest L. Adair is president of McComb Printing in McComb, Mississippi. Forrest was Printing Industry Association of the South (PIAS) Chairman of the Board for 2003–2004 and PIAS 2006 Person of the Year. His passion is teaching the craft of printing, and he spent a month in Cote D’Ivoire, West Africa training the locals on their printing equipment to enable them to mass distribute health brochures throughout Africa on the danger of AIDS. He also partners with the local high schools and community college to educate teenagers and young adults on the various career paths available in the printing industry. His has received numerous civic honors, including the 1988 Pike County Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year.
Gerald F. Clark is Director of Corporate Accounts for Graphics Microsystems of Sunnyvale, California. He is the 2006 recipient of the Harold W. Gegenheimer Award for Industry Service, serves on The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES) Board of Directors, and is currently chairman of their Show Advisory Committee. A member of the Web Offset Association (WOA) of PIA/GATF, he serves on its Supplier Advisory Board. In March of 2008, Jerry will reach a milestone of fifty years of continuous service to the graphic arts industry. His career began in a small letter shop in downtown Cleveland. He then attended college in Berea, Ohio, and has since worked in sales for Harris Corporation, Miller Printing Equipment, Thermo Electron, Stevens Corporation, and MAN Roland.
Eric Delzer is the 2007 immediate past chairman for the PIA/GATF Board of Directors. He has 34 years of experience in the printing industry and has been a member of the board of directors of the Printing Industries of Wisconsin (PIW) for 15 years, previously serving as chairman. On the national level, Delzer has served on the board of directors of PIA/GATF since 1993. He is also actively involved in his community, sitting on the board of the Wisconsin chapter of Academic Achievement. Delzer holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
John Frautschi is chairman of the board of Webcrafters, Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin. He is considered among the true pioneers in the use of the heatset web offset process. John has served our industry as a Board member, as president of PIA/GATF affiliate Printing Industries of Wisconsin, and he was a GATF board member. He is a member of the Web Offset Association (WOA). John was inducted into the Printing Impressions/RIT Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the WOA Vision Award. In addition to serving our industry, John has contributed to his community as a board member, trustee, or officer of many state and local charitable organizations.
Robert L. Smith is chairman of the board at Marshall & Bruce Printing in Nashville, Tennessee. He has served the industry for over 30 years and has served in every board of directors position for Printing Industry Association of the South (PIAS), including chairman and immediate past chairman from 1991–1993. He was the PIAS Man [Person] of the Year in 1995. Bob is a Korean War veteran and a member of the Rotary Club of Nashville. Bob is also a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville where he served as a deacon and was a member of the building committee. He enjoys his seven grandchildren and can be found cheering at whatever sport in which they are involved.
Douglas D. Waldron, Jr. is president and chairman of Priority Pak-It, a marketing and fulfillment company in Los Angeles, California which he began in 1981. He founded WestPro Graphics in 1969, an advertising printing company which he sold in 2003. Still active in the industry, Doug serves on numerous boards, including Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC), which he chaired in 1998–1999. At the national level, he has been a member of the PIA/GATF Finance Committee and the Economics Committee. He also is a founding partner of DCMH Wealth Management, and he mentors MBA students at UCLA in entrepreneurialism.
Lawrence A. Wilson was a printer before becoming a papermaker with S.D. Warren (now SAPPI). He was S.D. Warren’s director of the graphic arts research department, developing instruments for measuring interaction between paper and ink under dynamic conditions. Larry played a leading role in the printing and paper industry in understanding these interactions, and he participated in organizations such as GATF, GCA, and RIT. He was also responsible for leading the industry in learning, understanding, and using the concept of Total Quality as envisioned by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Now retired, Larry serves as Town Selectman for Arrowsic, Maine.
Michael S. Wurst is president and CEO of Henry Wurst Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, an independently owned and family-operated business since 1937. Mike has served this industry faithfully for over 25 years, actively involved with PIA/GATF local affiliates throughout his career--he is currently chairman of Printing and Imaging Association of MidAmerica. In addition, Mike is a member of the PIA/GATF Presidents Conference Advisory Committee, the Associations Relations Committee, and PrintPAC. He is on the Board of Directors of the Southern Plate County Athletic Association and the DeLaSalle Education Center. He is a graduate of Duke University, with graduate work at Carnegie-Mellon.
The dinner also included the presentation of the Naomi Berber Memorial Award and the Frederick D. Kagy Education Award of Excellence. The Berber Award went to Daneise Archer, 34-year industry veteran and president of Arco Ideas & Design, Inc. in Cartersville, Georgia. The Graphic Communications and Printing Technology program at Frederick County Career and Technology Center in Frederick, Maryland received the Kagy Award. It was accepted by John Augustine, the program’s instructor of 14 years.
For more information on the Ben Franklin Honor Society of PIA/GATF, please contact Diane Koch at (412) 259-1803 or email her at [email protected].