Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Seven industry leaders were formally inducted into the esteemed Ben Franklin Honor Society of Printing Industries of America at a black-tie induction and awards ceremony Friday, November 14, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Ben Franklin Honor Society of Printing Industries of America recognizes and honors industry leaders who have made lasting contributions to advancing the printing and graphic communications industries. This includes, but is not limited to, Printing Industries of America and its affiliates and the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF). Industry visionaries who have rendered outstanding or meritorious service to those associations or the industry are eligible for membership.

Timothy J. Burton—Timothy J. Burton, President, Burton & Mayer, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, represents the fourth generation of the family to join the business. He began his career at Burton & Mayer working in the prepress and bindery departments part-time during high school, and in 1980, he purchased his father’s share of the business. In 1991 he was named President and Chairman of the Board and has led the company to grow into the $15 million sheetfed and digital printer it is today.

Burton has been a strong supporter of Printing Industries of America. He has served on nearly every committee, including Association Relations, which he chaired from 2007 to 2010, Finance Committee, Investment Committee, and many more. In addition to serving as a judge for the national Premier Print Awards competition since 1997, he has also judged affiliate contests for PICA, PAF, PIAS, PGAMA, PIAG, PINE, and the former PII, now GLGA. He has served in the Officers ranks of the Printing Industries of America Board of Directors since 2007 and was ultimately elected Chairman of the Board in 2012. He currently serves as immediate past chairman.  

On the local level, he is currently a director and past Chairman of the Board for the former Printing Industries of Wisconsin—now Great Lakes Graphics Association. He has served ten years as a director on the Friends of Milwaukee Public Television Board of Directors, and continues to support their annualGreat TV Auction, and serves as an active volunteer for Paws with a Cause.

Wanzie T. Collins—Wanzie T. Collins, CEO, PanaPrint, Inc. has an impressive career that began in 1961 at Southern Press, where he worked in ad layout and composition. Southern Press grew to acquire the assets of the Burke Company, one of Georgia’s leading printers. Edward Burke, nephew of the founder of Burke Company, requested Collins as his full-time assistant. This proved to be quite an opportunity for Collins, as the accounts he assumed provided the foundation for him to become a business owner. In 1973, Collins purchased OmniPress, a small, four-man printing company, and in 1979 he purchased Southern Press, later evolving the name to Panaprint, Inc.

Collins has served the Georgia printing industry for many decades. After serving several terms on the PIAG, then PAG, Board of Directors, he was elected Chairman in 1984. One of the highlights of his service to PIAG was the founding of the PIAG Educational Foundation in which he played a major role. Today the Foundation provides career scholarship grants, sponsors the SkillsUSA competition, and supports the many PrintED-accredited schools in Georgia. The national PrintED Accrediation Program, created in Georgia and administered by the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation, was one of Collins’ many contributions to the industry.

Dr. Ron Davis—Dr. Ron Davis, Senior Vice President/Chief Economist, Printing Industries of America, holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron and a Master’s degree and PhD in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Davis has spoken at conferences in 47 states and a number of overseas countries over the years. He has provided input on industry economic issues to the International Trade Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve. He has served as a Professor of Management at the Graduate School of Management and Technology at the University of Maryland. He has also taught Economics and Business Management at Georgetown University, Penn State University, and is currently on the faculty of the National Capital Graduate Center of the Florida Institute of Technology. He has travelled to a number of colleges to provide night class instruction and has authored numerous reports and articles on economic and business topics.

Prior to joining Printing Industries of America, Dr. Davis worked for the city of Akron, at the national Association of Realtors, and the National Pharmaceutical Association.

Laura Gale—Laura Gale, President, Crossmedia451, Chicago, Illinois, was named one of the Top 100 Under-50 Diverse Corporate Executives by Diversity MBA magazine and is a recipient of the prestigious Luminaire Award from Women in Production in New York. Gale held senior management roles at United Stationers, a publicly held Fortune 500 business products wholesaler, prior to her work at Crossmedia 451, a privately held Chicago-based marketing and public relations firm that works with local businesses to raise their brand awareness and increase sales.

She has held a number of senior roles in publishing and graphic arts companies, including executive positions with publishers Rand McNally, U.S. News & World Report, and R.R. Donnelley, and was an owner and founding partner for Prinexus, a company offering print, online, and electronic marketing services that was built through a series of acquisitions.

She is a member of the Production Executive’s Hall of Fame and received the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation—now Printing Industries of America—Naomi Berber Award, given to women to have make a major contribution to the development of the graphic communications industries.

Gale has recently co-authored a two-book series on Cross-Media Publishing. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Gift Theatre in Chicago and spent a number of years on the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation Board of Directors. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of the Arts Degrees in Journalism from the University of Illinois and is a proud lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America.

James Michael Riley—James Michael Riley, President & CEO, RBO PrintLogistix, Inc., Maryland Heights, Missouri, started his career in the print and print management industry in 1974 at Standard Register Company in Minneapolis as a trainee and working to become a Group Executive. He launched RBO Print Logistix in late 1985 and led the expansion into a wide variety of printed products, related services, and technology offerings, and expanding the company into one of the largest and fastest growing print management companies in the Midwest.

In 2001 Riley launched Laser Brand LLC, the leading global provider of patient identification wristbands and wristband technologies used by health care organizations to improve safety for millions of patients worldwide. He served as the organization’s Chairman until it was sold in July 2012.

Riley has served the industry with great distinction, serving on the Print Services and Distribution—PSDA—Board of Directors for more than eight years and serving as its president in 2007. He has also served on or chaired various committees for NBFA/DMIA/PSDA from 1986 to 2013, advocating for the industry. He received the PSDA Member of the Year Award in 2013. 

Dr. h.c. Neils Winther—Dr. h.c. Neils Winther, Managing Partner, Chairman and Owner, Think Patented, Miamisburg, Ohio, began his adventurous professional career with a three-year management apprenticeship program with the East Asiatic Company, EAC, in Copenhagen. It was Scandinavia’s premier trading, shipping, plantation, and manufacturing company with operations around the world. He completed one year of military service after the apprenticeship and completed six months of a full-time class schedule to complete graduation requirements prior to his overseas assignment.

Dr. Winther’s first assignment was in New York City as a management trainee learning to take spare parts orders. As he advanced in the company, he was sent all over the world, including stops in Atlanta, Dallas, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Thailand, and New York. In the mid 1990s, he left East Asiatic to become the CEO of Heidelberg North America.

In the early 2000s Dr. Winther and partners purchased what is now Think Patented in Miamisburg, Ohio. His service to the industry includes many years on the NAPL Board of Directors, and in 2014 he was named Chairman of the Board. Additionally, he serves on the Graphic Arts Show Company and the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation Boards of Directors.

Richard D. Warner—Richard D. Warner is a security printing consultant and risk management advisor to the brand protection and document verification/authentication industries. He has a thirty-five-year career in the graphic arts industry, including service as Vice President and Director of the Research Department at GATF, now Printing Industries of America. He served as Vice Chairman of the General Council of the IARIGAI, International Association of Research Institutes for the Graphic Arts Industries.

Additionally, he was a member of the R&E Council of the Graphic Arts Industry, Inc., The Inter-Society Color Council, the Society for Imaging Science and Technology, Specifications for Web Offset Printing, ANSI, SNAP, and the ISO TAG Committee. Warner has published numerous industry papers, is coauthor of Introduction to Security Printing, and is an inventor with several U.S. patents.

For more information on the Ben Franklin Honor Society, including historical documentation and bylaws, visit www.printing.org/honorsociety.