2009 IoPP Honors and Awards winners biographies

College of Fellows

Brian Stepowany, Sr. Packaging Engineer, Kraft Foods

IoPP Member since: 1987 

Chapter offices held:

• Central New Jersey Chapter: Treasurer (1994-96), V. President (1996-98), President 1998 - 2002
• Speaker/Presentation Committee 1996-2002; Golf Outing Chairperson 1997-2002
• Ozark Chapter: President, 2005-2006; Events Committee 2005-2006

National Offices held/ dates:

• National Board Director (appointed) 2010

Major Contributions to profession/institute:

• Helped organize and establish Ozark Chapter 2005-2006

Active employment/business background in packaging:

• Kraft Foods, East Hanover, NJ, 2007 – present
• Bennett Packaging, Bentonville, AR  2005 -2007
• Smurfit Stone Container Corp., Bentonville, AR  2003–2005
• Shorewood Packaging Div., International Paper New York, NY  1998–2003
• Fort James Corp., Clark NJ  1994–1998
• Marietta Corp, Parsippany, NJ  1989-1994
• Dimensional Merchandising, West Caldwell, NJ  1987-1989
• Union Camp Corp., Clifton, NJ  1985-1987
• Packaging Systems, Orangeburg, NY 1983-1985

Education / Degrees:

• B.S. Packaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) - 1983
• M.S. Packaging Science, RIT in process – to complete Fall 2010

Membership in Professional organizations:

• IoPP (SPHE), 1987 to present
• Cosmetic Industry Buyers and Sellers 1988-1992
• Philadelphia Drug Exchange 1996-1998

Service to professional organizations:

• IoPP Chapter Officer roles
• IoPP Sustainable Packaging TC; Education sub comm. Cataloging task group leader 2008 - present
• Fort James Healthcare Packaging Division Graph Tek ’98, Organizer & speaker, May 13th 1998

Awards or Professional recognitions received:

• Certified Packaging Professional, 1999, and 2004, CPP Lifetime Re-Certification – 2008
• Pi Alpha Kappa award, 2000

Published / written materials, inventions, patents, developments, etc.:

• Patent Pending - Child Resistant Blister Package Design May 28, 2004
• Participated in the development of the Everest Seal Pak and Safe Pak tear resistant board material for usage with the child resistant/adult friendly blister card

Harry Bennett, Vice-President-Quality Assurance, Estee Lauder Companies

IoPP involvement:

• Board of Directors - Meadowlands Chapter of IoPP -2006 - present
• Program Development, Innovations & Web Site Chair - Meadowlands Chapter - 2009-2010

Harry is active in recruiting for CPP program and continuing education at Estee Lauder as well as his dedication to the Meadowlands Chapter. Created the in-house IoPP Certification Class program. Created the Estee Lauder Package Developer Program 2007-present. Organized the first HBA Speakers Session devoted to Quality plus gave presentation on Quality Management. Harry was also a presenter at the Packaging Symposium.

Honorary Life Members     

Howard R. Leary, PE, CPP, Principle, Howard R. Leary Associates LLC

Mr. Leary has had a distinguished career in numerous aspects of packaging, ranging from package design, package machinery design, and packaging line implementation. He has held a number of senior packaging management positions with such firms as Johnson & Johnson and American Home Products and was Vice President of Luciano Packaging Technologies. 

He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is a licensed Professional Engineer and Certified Packaging Professional. Mr. Leary was President/Chair of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP), and has held numerous positions of leadership at the chapter and committee level and on the Board of Directors. 

Mr. Leary lectures frequently at packaging seminars and symposia, including Interphex, Techsource, Pharm Tech, ISPE, IOPP, and TAPPI and has taught a course on packaging line design. His articles have been published in Pharmaceutical Engineering, PackagingTechnology and Engineering, Food and Drug Packaging, Packaging World and the Wiley Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology. He also authored a chapter in the book, Sterile Pharmaceutical Products; Process Engineering Applications.  His designs have earned awards in competitions, including AmeriStar and Worldstar.

George Thorpe CPP, President and Owner, DelValCo Consultants

IoPP involvement includes:

• Secretary - Technical Bag Committee 1991 - 1992
• Vice Chair - Technical Bag Committee 1993 -1994
• Chair - Technical Bag Committee - 1995-1996 Member - Techincal Bag Committee 1989 to present
• Chair - Bag, Box and Bottle Subcommittee - Chemical Packaging Committee 2009 - Present Vice Chair - Bag, Box and Bottle Subcommittee
• Chemical Packaging Committee 2007 - 2009
• Member - Chemical Packaging Committee - 1991 - Present

George has contributed to every single publication that the Technical Bag Committee and the Chemical Packaging Committee authored over the past twenty years. In the past five years he specifically led CPC's efforts to publish thier Closure Torque Guidelines that is offered in the IoPP bookstore. George has also led the effort to establish an industry standard tolerance for the measurement of paper basis weight used in corrugated boxes containing hazardous materials.

Member of the Year

Jamie Greene, The Box Maker

Cascade Chapter President 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08
Cascade Chapter Secretary 2009-10

Jamie Green has been instrumental in the comeback of the Cascade chapter of IoPP. Through his leadership as Cascade Chapter president he revived the chapter. The Cascade chapter grew from almost no chapter to winning Chapter of the year in 2007. Jamie has devoted many hours to organize meetings, host the first Cascade Chapter Sustainability seminar, maintain membership communication and report to National. Without Jamie's drive and vision, the Cascade chapter would not be where it stands today.

Jamie is always looking for ways to spread the word about IoPP and why it is important to join. While president he always had time to recognize and encourage others. His smile and positive attitude is always a welcome to new attendees. Jamie is still involved as Cascade chapter Secretary where he is in charge of communicating meetings and events to members and National.