Slate of Officers 2010

To - IoPP Membership
From - IoPP Nominating Committee
Date – November 23, 2009
Subject - Proposed Slate for the 2010 Term of Office for the IoPP Board of Directors

The IoPP nominating committee is pleased to present the following slate of officers for your approval. Please note that the members of the Executive Committee are listed first. It is the responsibility of the membership to elect these individuals to their respective positions of Chair, President, etc. as well as the VP Education and VP Certification. VP Chapters and VP Technical Committee are elected by their respective Committees to serve on the BOD.

IoPP members in good standing will vote on this slate through a general election, beginning Monday, November 23 and ending Monday, December 28.  The election results will be announced on Tuesday, December 29.  Elected leaders will begin their terms on January 1, 2010.

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Executive Committee

• Immediate Past Chair - Suzanne Fisher, CPP, Fellow
• Chair – Jane Chase, CPP, Fellow
• President – Robert Dennen, CPP
• Executive Vice President – Finance – Tyler Pease, CPP
• Executive Vice President – Education & Certification – Ralph Brandt, CPP
• Executive Vice President - Membership – Bret Carlson, CPP

Board of Directors
(All members of the Executive Committee [above] plus):

• Vice President – Professional Education: Wilken Benjamin II, CPP 
• Vice President – Certification: Ukachi Anonyuo, CPP
• Vice President – Technical: Dan Alexander
• Vice President – Chapters: Mary Slaga, CPP

Executive Committee Bio's ~

Suzanne M. Fisher, CPP, Fellow
Suzanne Fisher started her packaging career in 1984 as a Packaging Engineer for Westinghouse Furniture Systems in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Suzanne joined SPHE (Society of Packaging & Handling Engineers) by attending her first meeting and leaving the meeting as an officer.  She progressed to Senior Packaging Engineer and then tried a new direction with Product Marketing.  During her time at Westinghouse, Suzanne progressed up the officer ladder at SPHE (which had become IoPP during that time).  She was a Regional Vice President in '92 - '93.

After 10 years with Westinghouse, Suzanne moved to the automotive industry, and was a Buyer/Packaging Engineer for Lacks Industries, a company that chrome plates plastics such as grilles, wheel covers and automotive decorative parts.  After three years in the automotive industry, Suzanne decided to try something new - recruiting.  Although she enjoyed it, a call from Herman Miller lured her back into engineering work.  After an 8 ½ year career with Herman Miller as Manager of Packaging Engineering, Suzanne recently decided to take on another challenge in her career by joining Nichols Packaging as a Sales Packaging Specialist.  Suzanne is currently the Director of Sustainable Packaging at Pratt Industries.

She re-joined the officer ranks of IoPP as Vice President - Chapters in 2002.  Suzanne also served as Vice President -Technical Council and now is currently the Chair of IoPP.  Suzanne is also the current Vice President of the MSU School of Packaging Alumni Association.

Jane A. Chase, CPP, Fellow
Jane Chase holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee and a Masters of Science Degree in Engineering Management from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.  She also has 20+ years of varied professional work experience within the Packaging field.  She was most recently the Vice President of Packaging R&D for US Foodservice out of Rosemont, IL.

Her past work experience includes 3 ½  years at Johnson Controls where she worked as a Product Safety Engineer before working her way into a Quality Engineering position.  She then spent 10 years working with S.C. Johnson Wax in the Quality Assurance, Manufacturing and Packaging R&D arenas.  As a Quality Engineer, Jane developed and implemented SCJ’s supplier certification program for packaging component suppliers, and then moved to Manufacturing where she gained experience serving as an Aerosol Packaging Manager before spending 6 years doing Packaging R&D development.

Jane then spent a year and a half as the Package Engineering Manager for Imation where she established the corporation’s new packaging development process, developed their packaging specification format and computer system, and lead the installation of a new Packaging Laboratory.  She then spent four years at General Mills working as a Project Manager coordinating new packaging line installations and managing the Baking Products Division’s packaging developments.  From 2002 until 2005, Jane was the Director of Packaging Engineering for Ecolab Inc., and from 2005 to 2006 she was the Director of Packaging Technology and Process Engineering for ConAgra Foods.

Jane has been a member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals since 1992 and has been active in local activities in the Minnesota Chapter since 1997 when she became involved as the treasurer of the local chapter and served in this role for two years before taking on the position of President for five years.  She received her Lifetime CPP and was awarded IoPP’s Pi Alpha Kappa in 2003 and was inducted into IoPP’s College of Fellows in 2005.  Jane currently is the President for IoPP’s National Organization and has chaired the AmeriStar award judging for the last six years.  She has also served on the nominating committee for Officers and judge for Fellow, Life, and Member of the Year competitions.

In her spare time she is the Chair for the UW Stout Packaging Industrial Advisory Committee.

Robert P. Dennen, CPP
Robert Dennen earned his Bachelor of Science in Packaging from Clemson University in 1992, and his MBA from Mercer University in 1997.  Robert has been employed by Yum! Brands in Dallas, TX since 1999 and currently works for Pizza Hut as Senior Manager in R&D Engineering.  He has also held Packaging Engineering positions with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, Rock-Tenn Company, Georgia-Pacific Corporation and Span-America Medical Systems.

Robert has been an IoPP member since 1989 and served in National capacities since 2001.  He hosted the IOPP 2004 annual meeting at the Pizza Hut building in Dallas. His prior positions include Tejas Chapter President, VP Certification and VP University Relations. Robert is currently IoPP’s Executive VP – Operations.  He also is currently active with the Foodservice & Packaging Institute (FPI), and serves on the Foodservice Packaging Advisory Council.

Robert’s Packaging-related honors include:

• IoPP Tejas Chapter ΠAK (Pi Alpha Kappa) Honorary Society - May 2004.
• United States Patent number 6,612,429 granted on September 2, 2003:  Flip open package with microencapsulated flavor release.
• United States Patent Pending: Food Product Container May 2005.
• 2005 FPI/QSR Magazine Foodservice Packaging Awards: Food Consumer Convenience 2nd place, Pizza Hut Dippin’ Strip Pizza™ Sauce Cup Carrier
• 2002 FPI/QSR Magazine Foodservice Packaging Awards: Environmental Conscience Recognition for Pizza Hut 5 count breadstick carton.

Tyler E. Pease, CPP
Tyler Pease is currently the National Account Manager for Great Lakes Packaging in Germantown, Wisconsin, performing sales and engineering activities for the company.  Previously, he was involved in sales activities and new product development at Plymouth Foam, Inc. and holds 2 patents on products he developed during his tenure there.  Prior to working in the packaging materials manufacturing and converting markets, Tyler was a fulltime packaging engineer at GE Medical Systems focusing on global service parts and distribution.  He began his career as a packaging engineer at Oster/Sunbeam Appliance Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tyler holds a BS-Packaging from UW-Stout 1987 and received his MBA from Marquette University in 1997. He originally joined SPHE in 1987 and held the Vice President-Administration and later as President of IoPP-Wisconsin Chapter. Tyler has also served as Regional Vice President of the North Central Region and Vice President of Chapters Council. He achieved his lifetime CPP status from IoPP in 1999.

Ralph E. Brandt Jr., CPP
Ralph Brandt is currently the President of Brandt Sales and Associates, a principle in Professional Packaging Associated Technologies and acting Director of Development for Ontario ARC, Abbey Industries. Ralph has been involved in packaging for over 20 years both as a manufacturer's representative and a supplier. Ralph had been a principle in CJK Thermoforming Solutions a custom packaging thermoformer from 1998 - 2006. During his tenure with CJK Thermoforming Solutions they won an AmeriStar for Food Packaging.

Ralph holds a BA in Social Studies from Syracuse University. Ralph joined IoPP in 1996, became a CPP in 1999 and as a member of the WNY Chapter he has been on the Board since 1999, Secretary 1999 - present, President Elect 2007-2008, Phi Alpha Kappa 2003 and Member of the Year in 2005. Ralph served as North East Regional Vice President 2001 - 2004, Member, IoPP Board of Directors, 2003 - present and Vice President Professional Education 2005 – 2008 and is currently serving as the EVP Membership.

Bret M. Carlson, CPP
Bret Carlson is the Director of Engineering Services for ORBIS Corporation and in this role he manages a team of packaging & supply chain professionals who work closely with clients to convert their supply chains to optimized reusable packaging systems. Bret has been a member of IoPP since 1986.  He is a certified Project Management Professional and a Certified Packaging Professional.  Bret has held multiple IoPP offices including Membership Chair of the Michigan Chapter, Regional VP of the Midwest Region and is currently serving as the VP of Education.  Bret was instrumental in leading the development of the AmeriStar Student awards.

Wilken Benjamin II, CPP
Wil is a Certified Packaging Professional with 16 years of experience in research and package development, establishing standard operating procedures, procurement of materials, capital project management and executing cost savings.  Broad Technical expertise in high-speed packaging line development, warehouse management, materials and processes, with emphasis in corrugated, folding cartons, POP displays, injection/blow mold and thermoformed technology.

Currently, Wilken is employed by Valspar Corporation, global leader in food and architectural coatings, and occupies the position of Divisional Packaging Engineer.  Focusing mainly on brand building through new package development and supplier quality.
Prior to joining Valspar, Wilken held the following positions:

• Project Manager / Packaging Engineer – PepsiCo Beverages and Foods (2003 – 2005)
• Sr. Packaging Engineer – Pactiv Corporation (2001 – 2003)
• Packaging Engineer / Manager – Takata Restraint Systems (1997 – 2001)
• Packaging Designer – Menasha Corporation (1995 – 1997)
• Packaging Designer – Niemand Industries (1994 – 1995)
• Operations Supervisor – General Nutrition Products (1993 – 1994)

Wilken also serves on the Chicago Chapter of Institute of Packaging Professionals board where he has chaired the golf outing for the past 5 years.  Under his leadership, the golf outing has become the largest fundraiser for the chapter.

Wilken resides in Mundelein, Illinois with his wife Lori of 10 years and 2 children, Tre and Olivia.

Ukachi Anonyuo, CPP
Ukachi Anonyuo currently manages all aspects of Development for new Product launches as well as the timely development of high, quality, innovative packages worldwide based on Marketing objectives, manufacturability, and customer requirements for the Make-up and Fragrance Category for the Clinique Brand at the Estee Lauder Companies. Prior to joining Estee Lauder, she managed new launches for the Color Cosmetics and BeComing categories at Avon Products Inc., as well as the timely delivery to retailers and distributors through the sourcing and development of primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging for the various Sally Hansen and Orajel Brands at Del Laboratories Inc./Coty Inc. from inception to launch on a domestic and international basis. As an additional initiative, she has participated in various projects and teams relating to value analysis/cost savings, improved efficiency, as well as presenting new Packaging concepts and Innovation.

Ukachi holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the School of Engineering at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. In addition to being active in the Meadowlands Chapter of IOPP, she is also actively involved in many service organizations including the Cosmetic Industry of Buyers and Sellers (CIBS), Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW), iMentor.org, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.