The Packaging Hall of Fame members’ expertise spans a range of expertise and even a generation or two. But what each of the five inductees has in common transcends any of those differences: generosity of spirit and commitment to education. 

• Victor Del Rosso, Hi-Speed Checkweigher (retired)
  
• Lawrence C. Dull, MS, CPP, Packaging Knowledge Group
  
• Arthur Gustafson, Algus Packaging
  
• Thomas L. Schneider, CPP, Industrial & Shippers Supply
  
• M.H. “Pete” Wallace, SWF Machinery (retired)   
  

“Each of this year’s inductees is known for the ways he gives of his time to promote the packaging industry and education - mentoring other professionals, serving on local boards of education, leading college-level courses,” says Maria Ferrante, vice president, education & workforce development, PMMI.

Victor Del Rosso: Solutions & Service

Hi-Speed Checkweigher (retired) 

As an inventor, an entrepreneur and an industry leader, Victor Del Rosso has also been a problem solver.  Del Rosso entered the Army at 18, serving in Japan in the 11th Airborne Division. In 1948, he was discharged and within a few months began a course in Mechanical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

After completion, he continued his education at Ohio State University, then returned to his hometown, Watkins Glen, NY, to help lead Hi-Speed Checkweigher Co. from fledgling start up to leading innovator.  

Del Rosso approached his work as a problem solver, once saying that most machines his company sold were tailored to fit the customer’s applications. In the course of his career, he obtained many patents and has often helped other engineers obtain patents for innovations developed jointly.  

He believes in service to the industry and the community, and has practiced that value in a variety of roles that include (but are not limited to):

• Chairman, PMMI Board of Directors, 1979
  
• Member, PMMI Board of Directors, 1973–1978
  
• Engineering Advisory Council, Food & Drug Packaging Magazine
  
• Committee to revise and update the “Scale Terminology Manual,” Scale Manufacturers Association
  
• Guest speaker on packaging-related topics at colleges, technical schools and universities
  
• Volunteer, PMMI’s PACK EXPO Resource Center
  
• Member, RIT Alumni Board of Directors, Nathaniel Rochester Society and Presidents Circle
  
• Past Director, Vice Chairman, Chairman and Interim President, Citizens Savings Bank, Ithaca, NY Councilman, Ithaca, NY; 1968–1981
  
• Member, Baden Powell Scout Council Board
  

In 1988, Del Rosso “retired” from his posts as president and CEO of Hi-Speed Checkweigher Co. and manager of PackRite Weighing and Wrapping division of Toledo Scale Corporation. He continued as a consultant to Hi-Speed Checkweigher Co. and Toledo Scale Corporation until 1995.  

Today, Del Rosso’s participation in the industry continues. He’s a fixture at PMMI events, and an active volunteer at the PMMI Resource Center at PACK EXPO, helping attendees find the solutions they’re seeking.      

Lawrence C. Dull, MS, CPP: Sustainable Excellence

Packaging Knowledge Group  

When Lawrence Dull co-founded consultancy Packaging Knowledge Group in 2008, his focus on delivering leading-edge, cost-effective, and sustainable packaging solutions for clients was a natural offshoot of his corporate career, beginning with packaging handling tests he co-authored at Eastman Kodak in the early 1970s, tests that became a model for ASTM D4169.  

In following  years, his study and recommendations to enhance packaging line filling accuracy reduced overfilling, saving Calgon Corp. roughly $1 million annually. Later, at Novartis (Ciba Geigy), Dull justified, obtained capital and installed a state-of-the-art packaging testing laboratory. And, as a research and technology Fellow at Syngenta Crop Protection, Dull justified and established a dedicated packaging innovation function - a development that led to a best-in-industry packaging ranking.

Key to all of these achievements has been establishing clear lines of communications between packaging development and other key areas, such as brand management or purchasing.  

Dull has been an active member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) since 1979, serving as National President and Chairman, and earning his Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) designation. He is a member of IoPP’s College of Fellows , and an IoPP Honorary Life Member.   He is an ISTA Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional, a member of ISTA’s Global Board of Directors and Chair of its Sustainable Solutions Division. As such, he is one of the authors of ISTA’s Responsible Packaging by Design Guideline .  

Packaging Knowledge Group was one of the first firms Wal-Mart engaged to teach the Wal-Mart Sustainable Packaging Scorecard program.  Dull has been an active member of the Michigan State University family, including as a member of its Industry Advisory Council and a guest lecturer several times at the School of Packaging and was inducted into the MSU Packaging Hall of Fame in 2010 .

He is also an instructor for IoPP’s Fundamentals of Packaging course as well as ISTA's Certified Packaging Laboratory Professional course.  

His several patents include a nestable and transportable closed chemical handling system, dual-chamber bottle, agrochemical bottle, water soluble packaging system and method, and carrying case for gel bags.  

Arthur Gustafson: Inventor, Entrepreneur, Pioneer

Algus Packaging  

If you talk about heat sealing and thermoforming technologies - especially rotary automatic heat seal machines - chances are you’ll talk about Arthur Gustafson or some of his inventions. He’s led the packaging industry in these technologies for more than 40 years.  

Gustafson’s career began on his family’s farm, where he showed an aptitude for repairing and enhancing mechanical items. Machinery was his passion, however, and in 1954 he signed on as an apprentice machinist in the die shop of Plastofilm Industries. He progressed well, enjoying frequent promotions in engineering, operations and management positions, while continuing to help on the farm.

Plastofilm was an early pioneer in visual carded packaging, and Gustafson began to look for ways to improve efficiency and quality in assembling a carded blister package. In 1961, working out of a chicken coop on the family farm, Gustafson founded Alloyd Packaging Company (today called Alloyd Brands) and focused his goals on better, faster and more cost effective blister packaging.

By 1966, Gustafson had designed and built the first-ever fully automatic six-station rotary blister sealing machine. The machine quickly became the industry standard, and elevated Gustafson to “pioneer” status. 

However, something was missing. To ensure optimum performance, his new breed of sealers required a more accurate and consistent thermoformed blister to allow for automatic feeding. and to meet that need, Gustafson built his own. The resulting thermoformer was unique in its ability to produce a very accurately cut custom blister at speeds high enough to maximize the capacity of the automatic sealers.

In 1989, Gustafson sold Alloyd Packaging Co., which had grown from a one-man chicken-coop operation to a $40-million, 320-person firm.  

After a few years in “retirement,” Gustafson re-entered the industry he had so influenced. He formed Algus Packaging, Inc., in 1995 with new concepts for packaging equipment he wanted to build and bring to market. He’s still introducing new products, including a next-generation blister sealing machine (the U-8), and Algus has grown to more than 100 employees. The company’s goal remains “to define blister packaging for the 21st Century.”  

Gustafson’s impact has gone well beyond packaging lines, however. His custom machine system is part of the Toymaker 3000 display still on exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry - and he donates the time and resources to have employees ensure it’s in working order. He has given generously  to food banks, animal shelters, Boy Scouts, schools and even to employees in the wake of personal tragedies. 

From blister packs to the Boy Scouts, Arthur Gustafson has worked to make the world a better place. 

Industrial & Shippers Supply  

Thomas L. Schneider’s contributions to the packaging community’s knowledge base are extensive and based in professional achievement. He began his career with the Marsh Company, where he played a strategic role in the global introduction of the world’s first large character inkjet coding system.  

Today, Schneider is President of Industrial & Shippers Supply, a regional distributor of packaging equipment, supplies, and marking, coding, and labeling systems. He has been with the company since 1984, coming in as Executive Vice President and rising to President in 1995.  

From 2000–2009, he and a partner owned and operated Packaging Technology Center, a full-service package testing facility with clients in the United States and Latin America.  

Supporting packaging and education have been central tenets of Schneider’s career in packaging - from service to his local schools to his involvement in the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) and the World Packaging Organization (WPO).  Schneider, a Certified Packaging Professional, began his long association with IoPP in 1986 as a charter member of its Gulf Coast Chapter. He moved up through the ranks locally and nationally to serve as national President (2004) and Chairman (2005). He’s a member of IoPP’s College of Fellows, and was named an Honorary Life Member in 2008.  

He has represented IoPP on the WPO Board of Directors since 2005, currently serving as Vice President of Sustainability, and is poised to step up into the role of President in January 2012. In performing his responsibilities to WPO, he has visited every continent except Antarctica, and spoken on packaging education and sustainability in a diverse group of cities that includes Beijing, China; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City, Mexico; Mumbai, India; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. He has also been a judge for WPO’s annual WorldStar Awards and the WorldStar Student Awards.  

Schneider has shared additional knowledge with articles in Packaging World Magazine and two position papers for WPO. 

Schneider’s commitment to education is also evident locally in Texas, through continued service to the Humble Independent School District and as the founding chairman of the Humble ISD Education Foundation, which has raised and distributed more than $4 million for the schools since 1999.  

M.H. “Pete” Wallace: Service Above Self

SWF Machinery (retired) 

It started in the 1960s. Following four years of service to our country and graduation from the University of the Pacific, M.H. “Pete” Wallace joined an engineering company in Stockton, CA, and was hired by the International Paper Company (IP) in 1962 as a sales and marketing manager.  

Wallace used his engineering degree and experience to train IP sales personnel on the use and applications of primarily wooden boxes and crates used by farmers and food processors produced by the General Nailing Machine Corporation of Sanger, CA. These products were subsequently replaced by a series of corrugated trays and cases.

Wallace played an instrumental role in design, testing and marketing of these new shipping containers.   Over time, General Nailing Machine Corporation became a subsidiary of Southwest Forest Industries (SWF). Wallace left International Paper and became sales manager for SWF. Because of his product and market awareness, as well as his interpersonal skills, Wallace was promoted to manager of SWF’s Sanger facility in 1976.  

His favorite task was working with and educating customers about applications of SWF machinery and, of course, applications of corrugated packaging within the company’s major markets.   Under Wallace’s leadership SWF grew steadily. When corporate emphasis shifted to packaging materials and containers the management team purchased the company from Southwest Forest Industries in 1979, becoming Sanger Works Factory.  

In the early 1980s, Wallace became active in PMMI, and brought to his roles the level of commitment and enthusiasm he had already been known for. He served on the Board of Directors, and was Chairman when long-time president Claude Breeden retired, and Chuck Yuska was hired - a hiring Wallace calls his most significant contribution to the packaging industry. He served on PMMI’s first Long Range Planning committee, which set a direction for the growth of the role of PMMI in the worldwide packaging industry.  

The packaging community isn’t the sole recipient of Wallace’s community service, however. Service marks the rest of his life. He has spoken with Cal Poly University faculty and students about topics and careers within the packaging and packaging machinery industry. He’s also served his alma mater, the University of the Pacific, as a member of the engineering department’s advisory board and the Dean’s Engineering Council for more than 20 years. 

Locally, Wallace has held positions within the Clovis, CA, Unified School District Foundation since 1989. As chairman, president and executive board member he has been instrumental in developing and administering funding for programs that include teacher and student achievement grants.  This long-time active Rotary International member has lived Rotary’s “Service Above Self” motto, applying it to his local community and his professional community.  

PMMI will honor these five industry leaders in a special reception and induction ceremony Sept. 26, 2011, at 4:15 p.m., at the Las Vegas Hilton, which is adjacent to the Las Vegas and PACK EXPO Las Vegas:

Individual tickets are available for $75 each at PMMI.org, and corporate sponsorships range from $1,500 to $3,000. The entire packaging community is invited to support the industry, its leaders and their colleagues. Potential sponsors should contact Maria Ferrante, PMMI, for details: 703.243.8555 or mferrante@pmmi.org.

Proceeds from the reception benefit PMMI’s Packaging Education and Training Foundation, which offers scholarships for students in two- or four-year packaging programs.