News
David McDonald receives PAPTAC’s highest honour (April 01, 2010)

The industry’s top honour, the John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal, was presented during the PAPTAC Annual Meeting to J. David McDonald for his long-term contributions to the industry. McDonald was the …

The industry’s top honour, the John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal, was presented during the PAPTAC Annual Meeting to J. David McDonald for his long-term contributions to the industry. McDonald was the vice-president, university programs and strategic partnerships, at FPInnovations -Paprican until his retirement at the end of 2009.

At Paprican, he held senior management positions as vice-president, research and education, and manager of the mechanical pulping program. Over his 31-year career at FPInnovations, Paprican, and Abitibi-Price, he has managed or made direct contributions to research in all aspects of papermaking and mechanical pulping.

“This award is especially important to me, having known [John Bates] and knowing what a driving force he was for this industry,” said McDonald.

As vice-president of Paprican, he provided the vision for the Transformative Technologies Initiative (nanotechnology, biorefinery, novel pulp and paper products, and optimizing the fibre value chain), which was a major change in research direction.