News

Professor Theo van de Ven received the John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal

Published: 18 February 2019

The John S. Bates Memorial Gold Medal is the highest distinction awarded to a Member of PAPTAC (the Pulp And Paper Technical Association of Canada). The Gold Medal is in recognition of long term scientific and technological contributions to the pulp and paper industry. The last time this medal was awarded to a Member of the Chemistry Department was in 1994, when David Goring received this award. Prof. van de Ven received this award for this numerous contributions to papermaking chemistry, in which field he contributed greatly to the fundamental knowledge underling many papermaking processes, as well as to practical technological process improvements. As former Director of McGill’s Pulp & Paper Research Centre, Scientific Director of a NSERC Strategic Network on Green Fibres and Chair of FIBRE (an umbrella organization of 8 such networks), he greatly contributed to the promotion of science and technology of importance to the Canadian Forest and Pulp and Paper Industry, to Universities all over Canada. The photograph below shows Prof. van de Ven, immediately after the award ceremony, surrounded by his students and postdoctoral fellows.

Back to top