Gerald A. Nathe to Receive NAPL Soderstrom Award
PARAMUS, NJ—August 4, 2009—Gerald A. Nathe, Chairman of the Board of Baldwin Technology Co., has been named the 49th Walter E. Soderstrom Award recipient. Nathe will receive the award, one of the graphic communications industry’s most prestigious honors, at the annual NAPL Soderstrom Society Dinner on Saturday, September 12th, at the Park Hyatt in Chicago, during PRINT 09. NAPL (www.napl.org), the industry’s association for excellence in the printing and graphic communications industry, will also induct 13 industry leaders into the Walter E. Soderstrom Society at the event.
Named for the late Walter E. Soderstrom, one of the founders of NAPL, the Soderstrom Society is an honors organization that recognizes the contributions of industry leaders, including printing firm owners, equipment manufacturers, consultants and educators.
In announcing this year’s Soderstrom honoree, NAPL president and chief executive officer Joseph P. Truncale said, “We are so pleased to bestow this award on someone who so truly exemplifies all the qualities of the Society. Throughout Gerry’s career, he has been a learner, a leader, a successful businessman, a coach, mentor and humanitarian. On behalf of the NAPL staff, Board of Directors, and all the members of the Soderstrom Society we congratulate Gerry on this much deserved honor.”
Determined to work in a small manufacturing company environment following undergraduate and graduate degrees from Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard, Nathe sought out and secured a position with LogEtronics Inc., a supplier of film processors to the graphic arts. Thus started his career in the printing industry. Nathe eventually became the President of LogEtronics, and upon the sale of the company in 1987, he became the President of LogEtronics' former parent company, DBA Systems, a defense electronics firm. Simultaneous with the sale of LogE, Gerry remained active in the printing industry as he helped form a group that purchased Luth A/S, a Danish manufacturer of graphic arts film and plate processors, which the group sold in the mid-1990s.
When Nathe was elected to the Board of Baldwin Technology in the late 1980s, the company was rapidly becoming a global supplier of a wide array of pre-press, on-press, and post-press equipment. In 1990, Nathe joined the management team of Baldwin Technology with initial responsibility for the Americas. In the mid-1990s, he became the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and subsequently led the effort to focus Baldwin's business on process automation products and systems.
His knowledge and understanding of the printing industry was further advanced through his involvement and support, either as a participant or company representative, of industry associations such as NAPL, PIA, NPES, GCA, TAGA, CIP4 and the R & E Council. He has served as a director and Chairman of NPES and the Graphic Arts Show Company, and as a director of the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation and the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation. He has also served on the RIT Advisory Board and as an NPES representative on matters relating to Eumaprint in Europe and JGAS in Asia. He is a member of the Soderstrom Society, the Ben Franklin Society, and the Web Offset Society. This past year he was also the recipient of the NAPL's Vanguard Award.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Gerry and his wife Pat are long time supporters of several organizations delivering medical and health care to needy individuals in rural and urban America as well as in some lesser developed countries of the world.
Soderstrom Society Inductees
In addition to the Soderstrom Award honoree, 13 inductees will be recognized at the event as new members of the Soderstrom Society. They are:
• Jim Cohen, Exec. V.P. of Mergers & Acquisitions, Consolidated Graphics, Houston, Texas
• Wanzie Collins, President, Panaprint, Macon, Georgia
• Frank Cost, Professor & Associate Dean, RIT College of Imaging Arts & Sciences, Rochester, New York
• Eric Frank, Vice President, Marketing, KBA North America, Dallas, Texas
• Ted Kosloff, Chairman, Roosevelt Paper, Mt. Laurel, New Jersey
• Mark Levin, President of the Americas, Presstek, Hudson, New Hampshire
• Dan Mahany, President & CEO, Canfield & Tack, Rochester, New York
• James Martin, Senior V.P., Marketing, Heidelberg USA, Kennesaw, Georgia
• Kazuyoshi (Kosh) Miyao, President, Komori America, Rolling Meadows, Illinois
• Jeff Norby, Chief Financial Officer, Jet, Downers Grove, Illinois
• Bob Tursack, CEO, Brilliant Graphics, Exton, Pennsylvania
• Warren Werbitt, President & CEO, Pazazz Printing, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• Pat Whelan, President, Great Reach Communications, Lawrence, Massachusetts
“Each of our 2009 inductees has made significant contributions to the graphic communications industry and possesses a distinguished record of service,” said Truncale. “We’re so pleased to welcome them into the Soderstrom Society. Everyone at NAPL extends their sincere congratulations.”
Pricing for the dinner is $170 per person and $300 per couple. To register, contact Joan Kasper-Nolan, NAPL Vice President of Association Partnerships and Board Relations, at 201-523-6344 or jkasper-nolan@napl.org.
About NAPL:
Chartered in 1933, NAPL, the National Association for Printing Leadership, is a not-for-profit business management association representing companies in the $120 billion graphic communications industry. NAPL’s comprehensive slate of business-building solutions provides company leaders with the management tools they need to make informed business decisions in an ever-changing market environment. The association also handles the administration of NAQP, the National Association of Quick Printers, which specializes in the unique concerns of small Printers nationwide, and the industry’s Research and Engineering Council, which is dedicated to manufacturing technology and productivity improvement issues. For more information on NAPL or its affiliated associations, visit www.napl.org or call (800) 642-6275.
- People:
- Gerald A. Nathe