TAPPI Awards Highest Honors for 2020

Media Contact:  

Mary Beth Cornell

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ATLANTA (March 4, 2020) – The following individuals have been named recipients of TAPPI’s highest honors. 

Mark Lewis, CEO of Sustainable Fiber Technologies (SFT) and Phoenix Pulp and Polymer, has been named winner of the prestigious Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award.

Lewis founded SFT, based in Renton, Wash., in 2015. Under his guidance, the company developed the Phoenix Process™, an environmentally friendly method for pulping nonwood biomass materials. The Phoenix Process has been licensed by a number of facilities including Fortune 100 companies, and is used in the production of sustainable packaging, molded products, tissue and toweling, printing and writing paper.

Since the beginning of his career, Lewis has been an active member in TAPPI including serving as the TAPPI Student Chapter Faculty Advisor at the University of Washington from 1999-2014. He served as an officer with TAPPI’s Pacific Local Section and performed as emcee at the Section’s 75th Anniversary event.  Currently he is Chairman of TAPPI Nonwood Committee.

Gordon Bugg, TAPPI Fellow, has been named winner of the acclaimed Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Bugg works for Kemira Oyj as a Senior Engineer specializing in paper and paperboard coatings.

A TAPPI member since 1981, Bugg is very active with the Gulf Coast Local Section and received the TAPPI Paul Magnabosco Outstanding Local Section Member Award in 1997 for his service.

 He began his involvement with the TAPPI Coating and Graphic Arts Division in 1988 and currently is active on the Division’s Coating Operations Committee. While serving on those Committees, he acted as Chair multiple times and played an active role in the activities and projects of the Division.

Bugg also served on the TAPPI Board of Directors from 1999-2002.

Andrew N. Chorney, Sr. has been named winner of the distinguished Paul W. Magnabosco Outstanding Local Section Award. He is Technical Services Manager for Essity Professional Hygiene North America, LLC in Cherokee, Ala.

Chorney joined TAPPI in 1991. He is an active participant in the Gulf Coast TAPPI Local Section, sitting on its executive committee and serving in various officer positions. He has also been a participating member on the TAPPI Yankee Dryer Safety Committee.

About the Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award:

First presented in 1985, the prestigious Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award is TAPPI’s highest technical honor in recognition of an individual’s exceptional industry contributions. It is presented annually only if an individual has made preeminent scientific and engineering achievements of proven commercial benefit to the world’s pulp, paper, board, and forest products industries including forestry, derived products, their process technologies, and their applications.

About the Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Award:

The Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Award  was established to recognize an individual for voluntary leadership and support. The recipient’s contributions must have significantly and demonstrably advanced the mission and vision of the Association and are apparent in specific improvements made in the Association’s internal or external endeavors.

About the Paul W. Magnabosco Outstanding Local Section Member Award:

The Paul W. Magnabosco Outstanding Local Section Member Award recognizes remarkable leadership and service to one or more TAPPI Local Sections. Recipients are individuals whose exceptional service has resulted in significant and measurable benefits to TAPPI Local Sections through a single activity or through longtime efforts.

About TAPPI:

TAPPI is the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converting industries and publisher of Paper360°, Tissue360° and TAPPI Journal. Through information exchange, events, trusted content and networking opportunities, TAPPI helps members elevate their performance by providing solutions that lead to better, faster and more cost-effective ways of doing business. It has provided management training and networking to the industry’s leaders for more than 100 years. For more information, visit tappi.org.

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