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Frederick said the forest products
industry stands at a “crossroads of redefinition,” and
that IPST at Georgia Tech can help during this
transition period.
“The industry has begun
to recognize itself as a producer and processor
of biomass, as a manufacturer of diverse and environmentally
sustainable products from renewable resources,
and as a major provider of green energy,” Frederick
said.
“The direction of change
is toward more profitable, differentiated products
for consumers at all levels, rather than production
of commodities,” he said. “The changes
in focus are accompanied by a need for new technology
plus a need for scientists, engineers, and business
people with the vision to achieve the change.
”The newly integrated
IPST at Georgia Tech has the potential to be a
world leader in research and education as this
scenario of change unfolds,” Frederick said. “My
vision is that IPST will become an organization
that connects industry and government with the
larger Georgia Tech faculty and research base.”
His prior ties with industry,
government and academia should prove beneficial
in Frederick’s new endeavor.
Between 1972 and 1974, Frederick
was a research engineer for General Motors Research.
He then conducted research for Battelle Memorial
Institute in Columbus, Ohio, then the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s Forest Products Laboratory
in Madison, Wis., between 1974 and 1976.
Between 1976 and 1980 Frederick
was an associate professor at the Institute of
Paper Chemistry (IPC) in Appleton Wisconsin. IPC
moved to the Georgia Tech campus in 1989 and was
renamed the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.
Then he became the group leader for Recovery Technology
Applications at the Weyerhaeuser Co. in Tacoma,
Wash, between 1980 and 1983.
Frederick maintained faculty
positions at Oregon State University from 1983
until 1996. From 1988 to 1991 he was a visiting
professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering
at Finland’s Abo Akademi University. He returned
to Atlanta and IPST between 1997 and 2001 and then
was named CEI Professor of Green Chemistry at Chalmers
University in August 2001.
“I'm delighted with Jim’s
appointment and return to IPST,” said Ron
Rousseau, the Cecil J. "Pete" Silas Chair
and chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical
and Biomolecular Engineering.
“He brings an impressive
set of credentials to the job of director. He's
been a leading researcher and administrator, and
he has strong ties to the Institute,” Dr.
Rousseau said. “Also important is that he
is well-connected to the pulp and paper industry.
He knows the strengths of IPST and he knows the
opportunities for strengthening the delivery of
research output to member companies.”
Frederick was born in Bangor,
Maine, in 1945. He graduated from the University
of Maine in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree
in chemical engineering. He then earned his master’s
degree and doctorate in chemical engineering from
the University of Maine in 1969 and 1973, respectively.
About IPST at Georgia
Tech
The Institute of Paper Science
and Technology integrated its operations with the
Georgia Institute of Technology on July 1, 2003.
Prior to this summer, IPST was an independent graduate
school and research center supported by the paper
industry for almost 75 years. Its graduates have
a long history of industry leadership and can be
found in countries around the world.
The school, founded in
1929 and previously named the Institute of Paper
Chemistry, moved to the Georgia Tech campus from
Appleton, Wisconsin in 1989. It has about 70
master’s degree and doctoral students and
conducts $10 million in research annually. In
1998, it was recognized nationally as the fifth
most innovative school in the nation in terms
of patents per faculty member.
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