Louis-Nicolas Robert

Louis-Nicolas Robert was born in Paris, France on December 2, 1761. As a child he was physically frail and self-conscious, but studious and ambitious. From 1767-1776, he attended the school of the Religious Order of the Minimes in Paris and received an excellent education with a strong focus on science and mathematics.

In 1780 Robert joined the First Battalion of the Grenoble Artillery and in few years rose to the rank of sergeant-major. He married Charlotte Routier on November 11, 1794 in a civil ceremony. In 1791, Robert became clerk of the Didot family’s renowned Paris publishing house reporting to Saint-Léger Didot. Later, he took over as the inspector of personnel and technician/inventor at the Pierre-François Didot paper factory in Corbeil-Essonnes near Paris.

Robert was an inventor. After many trials and errors and with the help of Didot’s financial resources, Robert successfully built a small prototype model in 1797 characterized by an endless, 340 cm long and 64 cm wide, moving wire that could receive a continuous flow of stock and deliver a continuous sheet of wet paper to a pair of squeeze rolls. The continuous strip of wet paper came off the squeeze rolls and was manually hung over a series of cables or bars to dry. Prior to his invention, paper was made one sheet at a time, by dipping a rectangular frame or mould with a wire screen bottom into a vat of pulp. The frame could not be re-used until the previous sheet of paper was removed from it. A patent was granted to Robert by the French Government on January 18, 1799.

Robert and Didot quarreled over the ownership of the invention. Robert eventually sold both the patent and the prototype machine to Didot who wanted to develop and patent the machine in England, away from the distraction of the French Revolution. In March 1801, he struck a deal with brothers Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier, who ran a leading stationary house in London. After 6 years and approximately 60,000 British pounds of development costs, the Fourdriniers were awarded new patents and the Fourdrinier paper machine was born. Thus, Robert’s concept became the blueprint of the most widely used Fourdrinier paper machines. His invention was the most significant invention in more than 2000 years of papermaking history.

Robert could not take advantage of his invention. In 1812, in poor health, having both sold and lost control of his invention and the patent, Robert retired from paper-making and left Corbeil-Essonnes. He moved to Vernouillet, department Eure-et-Loir where he opened a small school where he continued to teach.

Louis-Nicolas Robert died on August 8, 1828 in Vernouillet, France. His statue stands in front of the church in Vernouillet.

Juuso Walden

Juuso Walden was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1907. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1925 from the Helsinki School of Economics and completed his studies later in England on paper marketing. Since his early years, Juuso Walden worked at the mills of United Paper Mills founded by his father, Rudolf Walden (2008 Inductee). Juuso started as a trainee, soon rose to become Office Manager and later Corporate Sales Manager. During WW II, Juuso Walden was appointed President and CEO when his father was elected Minister of Defence of Finland.After the death of Rudolf Walden in 1946, Juuso Walden and his family became the main shareholders of United Paper Mills together with the other owner family Björnberg. The heads of the families had differing views with regard to the development of the company and thus it was decided to divide the company into two halves early in 1952. The Björnberg’s part, Myllykoski Oy, parted from United Paper Mills.

Walden immediately began a major expansion of the new United Paper Mills (now UPM) because he expected strong growth in the global paper demand. The most important mill was the Kaipola newsprint and magazine paper mill, which became, in the early 1960s, the largest of its kind outside the North American continent. Gradually Kaipola mill concentrated on producing super calendared magazine papers.

Under Walden’s leadership, UPM was transformed into a multi business company adding a wide and diversified paper and board converting business for export to the Soviet Union. Later, engineering works and a chemical factory were added to produce equipment and materials for the paper industry. The company also acquired some small mills in other countries, especially in Italy. These acquisitions were, however, not always economically feasible.

Walden was especially interested in the welfare of the personnel. He became a very popular Big Boss when he got involved into building houses so that employees could live in homes of their own. He was also greatly interested in all kinds of sports. He hired several top-level athletes like Olympic Gold Medal Winners and World Champions to work for UPM.

Juuso Walden was one of the most important and visible industrial leaders in Finland. Due to his activities, the mill sites of UPM became models for Finnish industry.

Juuso Walden retired in 1970 and died in 1972.

Hannu Viljami Paulapuro

Hannu Viljami Paulapuro was born in Rauma, Finland on January 7, 1947. He received his Master of Science degree in 1971 and his Doctor of Technology in 1979, both from Helsinki University of Technology with a major in Paper Technology and a minor in Applied Mathematics.

After receiving his Master’s degree, Paulapuro joined Jaakko Poyry Oy, where he worked until 1984. During this period, he held different positions related to paper technology and process development. From 1981-1984 he worked in the United States where he gained much experience on paper machine diagnostics. These were clearly very influential years for Paulapuro, as he often emphasized the importance of international work in one’s career.

In 1984, Paulapuro joined KCL (The Finnish Pulp and Paper Institute) and also started lecturing paper technology subjects at Helsinki University of Technology. He continued to hold dual positions at these locations for more than two decades and was often known for working seven days a week to carry his high workload.

In 1990, Paulapuro became full professor of paper technology at the Helsinki University of Technology. He was a legendary figure and one of the most productive professors at the university. He taught and guided the research of about 350 Masters of Science students and about 50 Licentiate and Doctoral students. Many of his students have gone on to prestigious careers in the forest products industry. The education and research programs he started became the pioneering programs in Finland’s internationalization efforts. His core values in scientific excellence, strong industrial connections and an international perspective have been imprinted on huge numbers of European paper industry professionals.

Paulapuro is best known for his love for research and many contributions to paper science. For example, his work on process diagnostics, mechanical pulping, wet pressing and fiber and paper physics is still recognized today. His work has been widely published in large number of Journals and Conference publications. The book series he edited, “Papermaking Science and Technology”, is still in wide use today.

Professor Paulapuro retired in 2010 but continues to mentor students and facilitate paper science in various committees and boards.

Ernst Richard Behrend

Ernst Richard Behrend was born in Koeslin, Germany on March 29, 1869. He received his ME degree from Charolottenburg Polytechnic Institute, Berlin, Germany.In 1896, at age 27, Ernst arrived in America and began working as a draftsman for Pusey-Jones Company, a major producer of paper machinery, in Wilmington, Delaware. Six months later Pusey-Jones sent him to Nekoosa, Wisconsin to supervise the construction of a sulphite mill.After Ernst’s return from a visit to Germany, his father, Moritz, raised the capital and brought one million dollars investment for the new sulphite pulp and paper mill in America. This million-dollar investment was used to start the Hammermill Paper Company in Erie, Pennsylvania. Within two years, the company was placed in the hands of Ernst and his brother, Dr. Otto Behrend. Hammermill Paper was built it into a very successful company while Behrend served as president over its first 40 years.

Under his leadership, the company was able to establish a market for sulphite bond paper as a suitable substitute for high-priced rag paper. A key development was a patented rubber roll process for watermarking writing paper on high-speed machines. In 1912, Hammermill established a watermarked bond paper (Hammermill Bond) and supported it by a national advertising campaign. Hammermill was the first to establish a network of franchised merchants to market the Hammermill line for which twenty-nine of the oldest and finest paper houses were appointed to serve as its exclusive agents. Hammermill also created a knowledgeable sales force to work closely with these agents to meet customer needs. By the late 1920’s, Hammermill had about 80% of the market.

Ernst Behrend was noted for his sense of commitment and loyalty and his ability to inspire that in others. His management philosophy stressed the creation of a safe and healthy work environment, fair and humane treatment of workers, steady employment with adequate wages, and the opportunity for promotion from within.

Ernst Behrend died at the age of 71 years on September 22, 1940 in Erie County, Pennsylvania.

Erling Sven Lorentzen

Erling Sven Lorentzen was born in Oslo, Norway on January 28, 1923 as the son of a Norwegian commercial shipping line owner. In 1948, he received a Masters degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.

During World War II, he was commander of a secret Norwegian resistance unit and after the war he became body guard for the royal family. In 1953, Lorentzen settled in Brazil with his wife Princess Ragnhild of Norway and established various businesses and gradually focused on forest plantation activities. In 1968, Aracruz Florestal began planting the eucalyptus forests in Brazil that would provide the raw material for the future pulp mill. In 1972, Aracruz Celulose was established and Lorentzen was named President and Chairman of the Board.

Between 1967 and 1975, Lorentzen inexorably cajoled and kept pushing the pulp mill project forward and after the financial engineering studies were concluded, the US$600 million construction project began in 1975. Pulp production started in early 1978.

Under his leadership, the production doubled to one million tons of pulp per year in 1991and doubled again in 2002. In 2003, the Riocell pulp mill in Rio Grande do Sul was purchased and renamed Aracruz Guaiba Unit. Lorentzen was instrumental in Aracruz becoming equal partners with Stora Enso in the Veracel Project in Bahia, to produce 900,000 tons of pulp per year. The cost of the project was US$1.24 billion; pulp production started in 2005.

Lorentzen’s stimulating technical development and promotion of the use of eucalyptus fiber led to improved quality in printing and writing papers and to the family of sanitary tissue papers. His fostering of research efforts in developing highly productive and safe commercial eucalyptus forests resulted in being awarded the 1984 Marcus Wallenberg prize. In addition, Lorentzen is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his war contributions in Norway and his business and civic contributions in Brazil. He currently serves as member or chairman of the Board of an impressive number of organizations focusing on sustainable forest development worldwide.

Lorentzen championed the cause of sustainable development as an inherent part of business strategy. At his suggestion, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development conducted a study on global forests and published results in 1996 under the title, “Towards a Sustainable Paper Cycle” which became a source for considerable continuing analysis. He also made sure that his company made contributions to the social development of Brazil.

Erling Lorentzen resides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His wife of nearly 60 years, Her Highness Princess Ragnhild, Mrs. Lorentzen, died on September 16, 2012.

Arnold E Grummer

Arnold Grummer was born in Spencer, Iowa on August 19, 1923. He received his Bachelors degree in  education from Iowa State Teachers College in 1949 and his Masters in education from the State University of Iowa in 1952.

Grummer’s early endeavors included high school teaching as well as marketing and public relations positions with Armstrong Cork and Aid Association for Lutherans. From 1960 to 1975, Grummer worked as a member of the Faculty Department of General Studies, Editor of General Publications and Curator of the Dard Hunter Paper Museum, all at the Institute of Paper Chemistry (IPC) in Appleton, Wisconsin, Following his tenure at IPC, Grummer started a traveling live exhibit, ôThe Great American Paper Machine.ö His extensive list of presentations includes six appearances at the Smithsonian Institutions, ten consecutive years at the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry, and twenty consecutive years at the Great Lakes Logging Congress. Also in 1976, Grummer founded Greg Markim, Inc. which became one of the worldÆs leading suppliers of educational supplies for hand papermaking. Grummer’s papermaking kits have reached schools throughout the United States, important learning centers such as the Paper Discovery Center in Appleton, Wisconsin and the home-art and hobbyist community. Grummer has authored five books on making paper by hand.Grummer’s impact is indeed far reaching. More than 62,000 Grummer papermaking kits have been sold to schools, institutions, and families. His books have had combined sales of more than 105,000 units. There have been more than 144,000 visits to Grummer’s YouTube video about how to make paper. It is estimated that more than 3,000,000 sheets of paper have been hand made using Arnold Grummer papermaking kits.

Grummer vastly contributed to widespread understanding of the wonder and science of paper through television, books, videos, demonstrations, and the internet. His pilgrimage in paper has taken him from the halls of the worldÆs premier paper training institute (IPC) to the corridors of museums and school classrooms. He did all this for the love of paper!

Today, Arnold Grummer resides in Appleton, Wisconsin with his wife, Mabel. In their late 80s, the Grummers continue to be very active in their efforts to foster societyÆs understanding and appreciation of paper and papermaking.

Two weeks after being inducted into the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame, sadly Arnold Grummer passed away.