John C. Husband, Ph.D., has been designated as one of nine TAPPI Fellows for 2010. He currently serves as Lead Scientist for IMERYS Minerals Ltd., Cornwall, UK. Fellow is an honorary title bestowed upon less than one percent of TAPPI’s membership. It is given to individuals who have made extraordinary technical or service contributions to the industry and/or the Association.

“Dr. Husband has been a prolific presenter at conferences in the United States and Europe, specializing in coatings,” said Larry N. Montague, President and CEO of TAPPI. “His knowledge has been instrumental in supporting the work of other scientists in the pulp and paper industry, both in North America and Europe.”
A native of Cornwall, he studied chemistry at Cornwall Technical College and later, Plymouth Polytechnic. He earned both his master of science and his Ph.D. in Paper Science from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, now known as the University of Manchester.

His professional career began in 1969 when he joined the Chemistry Research Department of English China Clays. Initially focused on projects involving clay chemistry and rheology, he then worked on the development of paper fillers. In 1983, he began working on paper coating and in 2000, he transferred to the IMERYS Worldwide Paper Group. He now holds the title of Lead Scientist for the company’s Paper Research Group.

He has been granted eight patents and is extensively published in professional journals. On the basis of his research experience, he is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He and colleague Janet Preston, Ph.D., have also been awarded the Silver Medal from the Institute of Printing for an article written about their work.

Dr. Husband is an active member of TAPPI, serving as a member of the Coating Fundamentals Common Interest Group (CIG) and the Technical Program Committee (TPC) for the Coating & Graphic Arts (C&GA) Division Coating Conference. He is also a member of PITA, the UK paper technical association. He lives in St. Austell, Cornwall, UK.

Dr. Husband and the other new TAPPI Fellows were honored at the TAPPI Fellows Luncheon, Sunday, May 2, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, Ga., USA, in conjunction with the 2010 PaperCon meeting