Honorary title given to extraordinary contributors

ATLANTA, Ga. –  The following eight individuals have been named 2017 TAPPI Fellows and were honored this week during PaperCon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Fellow is an honorary title bestowed upon a small percentage of TAPPI’s membership and is given to individuals who have made extraordinary technical or service contributions to the industry and/or the Association. 

Brian N. Brogdon, President/Owner, Future Bridge Consulting Service, LLC – Prior to joining Future Bridge Consulting Service LLC, where he’s worked for the last ten years, he was a Principal Scientist/Senior Research Scientist at Kemira Chemicals.

Brian’s been an active TAPPI member since he was a student over 25 years ago. He’s served in a variety of senior leadership roles for TAPPI including Chairman of the Pulp Manufacturing Division. He’s a member of the AICHE, PAPTAC and the ACS, holds several patents and has authored numerous books. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, and M.S. and PhD degrees in Pulp and Paper Science from the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.

Chris Krumm, Vice President of Operations, CorrChoice, Division of Greif -- A 36-year veteran of the corrugated Industry, he’s been a member of TAPPI since 1990. Chris has served on both the division council and supplier advisory council and is currently on the Board of Directors. He’s a graduate of Rowan University and holds an MBA from Loyola University. He’s also an Executive Scholar from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Business and is certified as a Master Black Belt in Six Sigma from Kent State University. He’s been with CorrChoice since 2002 but spent his early career with the Langston Corporation and BHS Corrugated.

Dave Clay, Senior Process Consultant, Jacobs Engineering -- He earned PhD and M.S. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue. David has been a member of TAPPI since 1975 and is a member of the AICHE. He’s served TAPPI in a wide range of roles including many years as a course instructor at the Kraft Recovery Course and served as session chair for multiple TAPPI events including the Engineering and International Chemical Recovery Conferences.

During a long and distinguished career David conducted important pioneering research on black liquor combustion, recovery boiler chemistry and evaporator fouling. Before spending the past decade at Jacobs he previously held positions at International Paper, Georgia-Pacific, Weyerhaeuser and the EPA.

Jim Niemiec, Product Innovation Manager, Verso Corporation -- Jim is responsible for Fine Papers, Digital Printing and Intellectual Property at the Verso Technical Center in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. He is Project Leader for his company’s production inkjet initiative and launched the TrueJet™ Digital Coated Papers product line.  

He's served as TAPPI Coating and Graphic Arts Division Chair, PaperCon 2016 Conference Chair and Printing and Converting Committee Chair. In other roles he has organized technical panels on laser and inkjet printing and the future of print technology and spoke at NAPIM’s annual Summer Printing Ink Course.

After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology he began his career working as a printing ink chemist at Inmont Corporation. This was followed by several roles in R&D, Product Development and Business Development at Abitibi-Price, Fraser Papers, Consolidated Papers, Stora Enso, and NewPage. He also holds a business degree from York University (Toronto) and an MBA from Lakeland College. He holds several patents involving printing technology and inkjet papers.

Paul Durocher, Director, Coated Paper Development, Sappi North America -- In his current role he is responsible for the Coated Paper Development efforts at the company's Technology Center which he joined after obtaining his degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maine. He has held a series of technical, manufacturing and management roles where he’s developed expertise in coating processes and formulations, papermaking and R&D management.

Paul was elected to the TAPPI Board of Directors for a term beginning in 2014 and serves as co-lead of the Agenda 2020 Cellulosic Nanomaterials Team.

Tony Johnson, Business Director Forest Industries, Beca AMEC -- As a TAPPI member for many years he’s served in multiple roles including Chairman for the Oxygen Delignification and Process Closure/Closed Cycle subcommittees. He was instrumental in the development of the TAPPI Process Closure Course.

Tony specializes in pulping and bleaching technology including closed cycle operations. He’s a member of APPITA, where he was named a Fellow in 2011, and PAPTAC. He earned his B.S. degree from Otago University (New Zealand) and holds a management degree from Knoxville college. He’s been at Beca AMEC for 20 years and prior to that he worked for Fletcher Challenge and AMEC USA. 

Peter R. Augustine, President, Fabio Perini North America -- Prior to joining Fabio Perini, he worked for the Otis Elevator Company, where he progressed through a series of positions beginning as an Account Manager in Service Sales to Regional General Manager. In his current role he’s responsible for strategic planning, operations management, sales, project development, customer service and production for the North American division.  

Peter served in the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of Captain.  He holds an MBA from Purdue University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Philip Wells, President, Wells Enterprises Inc. – He began his career working at the Weyerhaeuser Technology Center working as a research Technician before establishing Wells Enterprises over three decades ago. Philip designed and markets Lazy Steam Application equipment for the industry.

A member of TAPPI since 1987 he has served a wide variety of roles at the local and national level. These include serving on the Water Removal Committee, which he currently Chairs, and the TAPPI Papermakers Technical Program Committee. He’s published numerous technical papers pertaining to water removal and machine clothing and was awarded the Paper Division Technical Award and Harris O Ware Prize. He earned a B.S. in Fiber Science from the University of Washington.