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The Plastics Academy Hall of Fame

Reserve your tickets now!

Join your colleagues for the industry's premier event

The Plastics Academy Hall of Fame gala will take place at NPE2009 on the evening of Monday, June 22, 2009 at McCormick Place in the West Building Ballroom. The program, in which new members are recognized and receive the highest honor of the plastics industry by being inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame, begins with a reception at 6:30 followed by dinner and the induction ceremony.

This night of elegance will feature National Football League Hall of Fame member Mike Ditka as the keynote speaker. Attendees will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with the plastics industry most influential pioneers.

The Plastics Academy Hall of Fame was founded in 1972 to administer and perpetuate the tradition of honoring individuals who have contributed significantly to the development of plastics or the plastics industry.

The 2009 Plastics Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Robert Barr, developer of design concepts for plasticating screws now used throughout the plastics machinery sector; innovator and entrepreneur in blow molding equipment.
• Paul N. Colby, innovative designer, manufacturer, and entrepreneur in the field of feed screws for plastics processing machinery.
• Trevor Evans, whose leadership in plastic packaging included innovative work in package design and manufacture and executive management of key packaging firms.
• Prof. Paolo Galli, polymer chemist and resin company executive whose developments in the field of polymerization catalysts led to the creation of new types of polyolefins.
• James Hendry, inventor of a wide range of injection molding and structural foam machinery systems and developer of gas-assisted injection molding.
• Ralph A. Noble, compounding innovator and executive who pioneered the use of plasticizers for flexible vinyl and crosslinked polyethylene for wire and cable.
• George Schwarz, executive who became head of a small Austrian engineering firm and developed it into a leading global injection molding machinery manufacturer.
• Robert Swain, pioneer in the development of applications for polypropylene, then in the production of color masterbatches as founder and head of a leading supplier firm.
• Dr. Donald Witenhafer, polymer chemist whose inventions in PVC polymerization ended the threat of cancer caused by vinyl chloride emissions during resin production.

Learn more about this year's inductees and read the full press release.

When
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
McCormick Place, West Building Ballroom

Table Reservations
Bronze Sponsor	$4,000	(one table, seats 8)
Silver Sponsor	$8,000	(two tables, seats 16)
Gold Sponsor	$12,000	(three tables, seats 24)
Platinum Sponsor	$16,000	(four tables, seats 32)

Individual Tickets
$300 per person

If you have questions about Hall of Fame table reservations or tickets, pleast email Karen Bolton at kbolton@plasticsindustry.org or call +1.202.974.5249.

About the Plastics Academy and Hall of Fame

The Plastics Hall of Fame was established in 1972 by Modern Plastics magazine, in cooperation with The Society of the Plastics Industry, to recognize those who have contributed most significantly to the growth and success of the plastics industry.

Their intent was to honor the real movers of the industry by inducting them into The Plastics Hall of Fame. The official induction took place during a gala ceremony in the Grand Ballroom of the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago during the National Plastics Exposition and Conference, November 5-9, 1973. It received widespread industry acceptance with more than 1,000 people attending the ceremony.

The specially created Hall of Fame award sculpture, which consists of three formed acrylic blades mounted circularly on an acrylic base, symbolizes "the outstanding leadership in the ever-changing plastics industry.

In 1974 the concept was expanded to include posthumous induction into The Hall of Fame in order to honor great contributors to the plastics industry such as John Wesley Hyatt, the founder of the first plastics material, along with such other early pioneers. The awards were presented to the surviving widows of the new inductees or the companies with which they were predominantly associated.