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Van Lierop joins industry Hall of Fame for work in bleaching

Canadian scientist Barbara van Lierop has been inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame. Va…

Canadian scientist Barbara van Lierop has been inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame. Van Lierop is horoured for her contributions to the industry, particularly in the area of bleaching technology.

At the time of her retirement in 2007, Barbara van Lierop was principal scientist in the chemical pulping program at the Pulp and Paper Research Institute of Canada (now FPInnovations – Paprican). She has made significant contributions to bleaching research during her 33-year career with the research organization.

During her career, van Lierop has been associated with major changes in bleaching technology that arose from the need to address environmental issues.  These developments at Paprican included the application of oxidative extraction in pulp bleaching and the use of oxygen, peroxide and ozone in both TCF and ECF bleaching. She was also part of a research team that is developing technologies to improve chlorine dioxide bleaching efficiency.

Van Lierop has played an important role in the transfer of these research technologies to mills, either directly or indirectly, through her participation in both the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) and the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) committee work. 

She served as chair of PAPTAC’s Bleaching Committee from 1981-83. She later served as PAPTAC councilor from 1994-96 and then chair from 1996-98.  She received honorary life membership in 2004.

And in 2007, van Lierop was awarded the distinguished John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal in recognition of long-term contributions to the science and technology of the paper industry. She has also been named a TAPPI fellow, an honor bestowed on less than one percent of the organization’s membership.

The Paper Industry International Hall of Fame (www.paperhall.org/) is located at the Paper Discovery Center (www.paperdiscoverycenter.org), a hands-on museum of papermaking housed in a former Kimberly-Clark paper mill in Appleton, Wis.