The Paper Technology Foundation, a 501(c)3 corporation, was established in 1958.  The mission of the Paper Technology foundation is to recruit students for the Paper Engineering and Paper Science programs at Western Michigan University and to provide those students with competitive scholarships. Careful, directed recruiting and the provision of competitive scholarships are our way to ensure that we provide strong leaders for the paper and allied industries well into the future.

Western Michigan University, at their Parkview campus, has made an unprecedented and unequaled investment in the Paper Science and Paper Engineering programs.  Western’s Parkview campus is a $72 million investment in engineer

ing and research and includes a modern 1 meter wide pilot coater with multiple coating application capabilities. During the past five decades, our industry has undergone dramatic change, and the programs at the university continue to evolve to meet these challenges. The Parkview campus provides our student body with the most modern and most capable educational and research facilities available in any Paper Science or Paper Engineering school in the nation. 

Our industry will continue to evolve in ways that will challenge the ability of universities to provide technically trained individuals to the industry. Western Michigan University is prepared to answer that challenge and to provide talented and motivated graduates, academically positioned to lead the future generation. Industry change and evolution provides an extremely exciting time for a young person to enter our industry. Changes in the way we work, game-changing leaps in technology as well as the continued globalization and often privatization of both the paper industry and the U.S. economy will make the coming years unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes.

The Paper Technology Foundation Board of Trustees will continue to challenge our faculty while providing assistance to augment and enhance the pulp and paper programs by reflecting critical needs of the industry, by adding value to the degrees offered by the University, and by enhancing the reputation of the programs over the coming years.