AMERIPEN's Exec Director Inducted into Packaging Alumni Hall of Fame

The American Institute for Packaging and the Environment (AMERIPEN) inducted executive director Joan Pierce into the Michigan State University School of Packaging Alumni Hall of Fame (who knew there was a packaging hall of fame?) during the Annual Awards Banquet held last night at MSU in East Lansing, Mich.

Recipients of this award are selected by the Alumni Board of the School of Packaging for their support of the School and the University, career accomplishments and community service.

"The MSU Packaging Alumni Association is pleased to add Joan Pierce to our Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors we can bestow on our alumni. Joan's career demonstrates well the dedication to service, accomplishments, and commitment to high standards that we seek to inspire in our graduates," said Andy Saladin of Orbis, MSUPAA President.  "As a recipient of the Hall of Fame Award, Joan will serve as a superb role model for our students and alumni."

Joan Pierce has 40 years of experience in the packaging industry. She was instrumental in the formation of AMERIPEN last year, and she helped set the initial strategic direction of the organization, both as a founding member and as the group’s first president. When she retired from Colgate-Palmolive late in 2011, where she served as Vice President of Global Packaging and Vice President of Packaging Sustainability, she was replaced as AMERIPEN president by Gail Tavill of ConAgra Foods, Inc.; she was soon thereafter named AMERIPEN's first Executive Director. In this position, she works closely with AMERIPEN’s Executive Committee to achieve the organization’s goals, overseeing existing work streams and managing priorities.

Prior to Colgate-Palmolive, Pierce spent 20 years with Eastman Kodak Company, where she worked at the Kodak Apparatus Division, Distribution Division, Kodak Park and Ultra Technologies. She also spent a number of years in sales forecasting and supply chain management, she holds several patents for package design and work flow innovations, and she is APICS certified. Pierce's previous employers include Bausch & Lomb, the Dial Corporation and the Coca Cola Company.

Pierce has served on the industry advisory boards of the MSU School of Packaging, Rutgers University’s School of Engineering and the Packaging Science Department of Rochester Institute of Technology. She has been on the board of directors of the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) for 15 years; she served as president for many years and as Chairman of the Board, 2009-2011.ISTA this year presented her with its highest honor, the R. David LeButt Packaging Education Award. Pierce also was a member of the U.S. delegation to the ISO Subcommittee on Packaging and the Environment.

Congratulations, Pierce.