Arthur J. Ragauskas, Ph.D., Rises to Role of TAPPI Journal Editor-in Chief

University of Tennessee professor joined by Soledad Peresin, Ph.D., as the Journal’s Associate Editor 

(ATLANTA) February 2, 2026 –TAPPI is pleased to announce that Arthur J. Ragauskas, Ph.D., has 
assumed the editor-in-chief role for TAPPI Journal. Ragauskas is a professor at University of Tennessee 
(UT) in Knoxville, TN, and has been a member of the TAPPI Journal Editorial Board since 2011. As a 
member of the Editorial Board, Art has curated eight special issues on a range of topics, including 
nanocellulose, lignocellulose, lignin valorization, and the forest biorefinery. 

In 2014, after 15 years at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) in Atlanta, Ragauskas 
assumed the Governor’s Chair for Biorefining based in UT’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular 
Engineering, with a complementary appointment in the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Department of 
Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries. He serves in the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, 
Biosciences Division, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Ragauskas was also the first Fulbright 
Chair in Alternative Energy, and his activities at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, were 
focused on the forest biorefinery and new biofuel conversion technologies for lignocellulosics.  He is a 
TAPPI Fellow and a recipient of the TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award. 

“It’s very exciting to have Art at the helm of TAPPI Journal,” said TAPPI President and CEO Lawton C. 
Roberts. “With his unparalleled technical expertise and global reputation as one of the world’s most 
highly cited researchers in his field, Art brings the vision and experience to keep the Journal a premier 
publication.” 

During his tenure as editor-in-chief, Soledad Peresin, Ph.D., director of the Wood Utilization + Design 
Institute at Clemson University, will continue as Associate Editor of the Journal.  

Ragauskas is taking over the role from Douglas Coffin, Ph.D., of Miami University, who joined the 
Editorial Board in 2018 and went on to spend six years in leadership roles for the Journal. In addition to 
sharing his expertise in paper physics and corrugated packaging topics, Coffin provided guidance in 
many important areas including transitioning the Journal to an Open Access publishing model. After his 
term as editor-in-chief was over in 2023, Coffin stepped back in to continue as editor-in-chief when 
Peter Hart, Ph.D. passed away in May 2024, continuing until December 2025 and ensuring that the 
Journal’s momentum and efforts were preserved. 

TAPPI Journal’s open access format provides the industry free access to the latest research as soon as 
each issue is published.  Prospective authors from academic and research institutions, as well as 
speakers who present scientific papers at conferences, are encouraged to submit their research for peer 
review and consideration for publication in the Journal. As an added incentive, authors are eligible for 
the $3,000 Honghi Tran TAPPI Journal Best Research Paper Prize presented at TAPPICon. Learn more and 
submit abstracts at tappi.org/tjsubmit.  

About TAPPI: 
TAPPI is the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converting 
industries and publisher of Paper360° Magazine, Tissue360° Magazine 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 
over 110 years. For more information, visit TAPPI’s website.