Charles Klass inducted into Paper Industry International Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Charles Klass, a Paper Engineering graduate from WMU, who was recently inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.

 Charles (Chuck) Klass, a 1962 graduate of WMU’s paper engineering program, recently was named to the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame.  With more than five decades of pulp and paper and allied industry experience -- including 30 years as a consultant and innovator in the field of coated paper, paperboard, tissue and other paper-based products – he has worked with companies all over the world. He holds eight US and international patents, and has published 164 technical papers including chapters in books and trade journals. He started his company, Klass Associates Inc., in 1986. Klass also holds a MBA from Pace University in New York City.

Klass's contributions to the industry led to the commercialization of the metered size press, coating of deinked post-consumer recycled waste papers to improve grease resistance, the development of Crayola Color Wonder® paper, the development of rod coaters for Kohler Coating, the commercialization of nanoparticle biolatex binders for Ecosynthetix, and the development of ColorLok® technology for Hewlett Packard for its inkjet papers.

Klass is a member of the Paper Industry Management Association (PIMA), the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and the Canadian Paper and Pulp Association (CPPA). Active in public service, he served as lieutenant and pilot with the New Jersey Civil Air Patrol, board member of Philadelphia's American Cancer Society, and board member of Historic Rittenhouse Town, where the first paper on the continent was made in 1690.

For his contributions to the industry, Klass has received many honors including the TAPPI Gold Medal, TAPPI Fellow, TAPPI Paper and Board Manufacturing Division Award and Harris O. Ware Prize, TAPPI Distinguished Service Award, and TAPPI Coating and Graphic Arts Division Leadership and Service Award. He also is a fellow of WMU’s Paper Technology Foundation and received the Paper Technology Foundation's Hall of Fame Award.

Klass and his wife Beverly live in Madeira Beach, Fl. They have four daughters, a son, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The Paper Industry International Hall of Fame

The Paper Industry International Hall of Fame, Inc., a non-profit organization, was founded in 1993 to recognize people who have made preeminent contributions to the paper industry worldwide. It is based in Appleton, Wis., which has the greatest concentration of paper mills in the world.  Annual ceremonies for inducting individuals to the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame began in 1995.