R. David LeButt Award

Announcing Award Recipient | Eric Joneson

The ISTA Educational Foundation (ISTAEF) is thrilled to announce Eric Joneson as the recipient of this year’s R. David LeButt Award, which honors packaging professionals for their outstanding contributions to education in transport packaging.

A graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Packaging, Joneson has spent his entire 34-year career with the Lansmont Corporation. He started in customer support, helping customers to install new test systems and providing training on proper use. In 1996, Joneson relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, to manage the opening of Lansmont’s Southeastern Technical Services Center. He then relocated to East Lansing, Michigan, where he subsequently managed Lansmont’s Lansing Technical Services Center for the next 11 years. Those hands-on laboratory testing experiences drove his interest and involvement in test standards development. Joneson first participated and presented at ISTACON ‘96 and has attended nearly every annual event since then.

"It is easy to think that the only ones doing packaging education are the teachers and professors in academia," said ISTA Global Board Immediate Past Chair Greg Batt of Clemson University. "This is simply not the case. Many industry professionals play an important role in educating other professionals, students, and even the teachers and professors charged to do this for a living. I can think of no one that typifies this "teacher of all" more than Eric Joneson."

Joneson is primarily responsible for Lansmont’s applications training activities, delivered through seminars, webinars and other channels. With continued environmental measurement and analysis activities, he is a frequent presenter at many technical events held around the world. He also serves as Lansmont’s University Liaison, often guest lecturing at packaging programs. Joneson has served as ISTA’s volunteer past president and continues to serve on ISTA’s Global Board of Directors. He also serves on the board of directors of the International Association of Packaging Research Institutes.

"Eric’s long-standing efforts in educating the packaging industry and beyond about designing and testing packaged products for transit make him incredibly deserving of this honor," said A.J. Gruber, ISTAEF president. "He has been a highly regarded presenter at ISTA events spanning the globe for many years, and he has positively impacted so many people — myself included — through speaking and teaching in both formal and informal settings."

The ISTA Educational Foundation established the R. David LeButt Award in 1999 after the untimely death of Dave LeButt, an ISTA officer who participated in — and realized — the importance of a packaging education. The award has been given to 22 other professionals since its creation.

"This award is substantially meaningful to me, said Joneson. "I was present when the first-ever LeButt Award was given in 2000, and I'm lucky enough to have known all 22 of the award recipients. Their leadership and participation set the example of how anyone can make a positive contribution. For me, educational contribution really means sharing of knowledge and that’s what I’ve found to be thoroughly rewarding over nearly three decades of participation with ISTA."

Joneson will be recognized at the annual ISTA Forum, including TempPack and TransPack events, which will be held May 1 – 3 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston, Texas.

Make a Nomination

Award candidates are nominated by industry peers and reviewed by the Foundation Board Members for final selection. The selected recipient will be honored at ISTA's Annual Forum. Review full nomination criteria below prior to making a nomination. Nominations may be submitted for consideration at any time through the online form.

Previous Award Recipients

Nomination Criteria

Who May Nominate

Any ISTA member in good standing may nominate candidates for any of the awards.

Nominee Eligibility

1. ISTA wishes to recognize its members through the R. David LeButt award program while also recognizing the most respected individuals worldwide. ISTA membership is not required. However, because contributions to the packaging community are important criteria in the selection of award recipients, ISTA service or participation may be a discriminator between otherwise equal candidates.
2. It is the nominator‘s responsibility to verify the nominee‘s eligibility. In general, the nominee must not have been a rostered member of the ISTA Global Board of Directors or the ISTA Educational Foundation Board of Directors for at least 1 year prior to the nomination deadline.
3. Under extraordinary circumstances, however, individuals who are or have been members of the ISTA Global Board of Directors or the ISTA Educational Foundation Board of Directors during the preceding year may be considered for the award provided the procedures contained in this document and the following additional process and conditions are followed:
   1. Prior to preparation of the nomination package, the nominator should contact the Chair of the AC with a request for waiver, allowing sufficient time prior to the nomination deadline. The nominator should provide a brief write-up describing the nominee‘s achievement and its importance and why the nominee should receive the award at this time.
   2. If the AC receives a nomination package (without waiver approval) for an individual who is or was a member of the ISTA Global Board of Directors or the ISTA Educational Foundation Board of Directors during the preceding year, ISTA will return the nomination requesting that the nominator contact the Chair of the AC to determine eligibility. If the waiver is granted, the nominator may re-submit the nomination with the letter or email from the Chair of the AC.
      1. The Chair of the AC will only consider eligibility waivers when extraordinary circumstances exist. An example of a circumstance where the waiver might be warranted is for someone who is being nominated for a recent accomplishment where waiting might result in a disadvantage to the potential nominee.
      2. If the Chair of the AC approves the waiver, the nominator may begin preparation of the nomination form. A copy of the Chair of the AC‘s approval letter or email will be included as part of the package which is submitted to the AC on or prior to the nomination deadline. If the CHAIR OF THE AC does not approve the waiver, the nominator may submit the nomination when the nominee becomes fully eligible.
   3. Current AC members are not eligible to be nominated for the award that is under their oversight. Additionally, they should not serve as a nominator or reference for awards under their purview during their term of service.
   4. Nominees/awardees may not receive more than one ISTA award for the same accomplishment or body of work. Nominating the same person for multiple ISTA awards during the same nomination cycle is not allowed. Careful consideration should be given when nominating to ensure that the relevant accomplishments of the nominee are presented clearly and precisely, so that overlap between prior and future awards does not exist.
      1. Some ISTA awards may recognize specific and recent accomplishments, while others recognize lifetime achievement. As discussed in the previous point, nominators should be careful to distinguish new nominations from previous ISTA Award winners in either of these two categories so as to ensure there is no overlap.

Nomination Deadline

1. The deadline for nominations to be considered in a given year is January 31.
2. A complete nomination form must be received by the AC on or prior to the deadline date. Nomination forms will be accepted on a daily basis and considered for the appropriate award year.

Nominations

1. All award nominations must be submitted using the online nomination form. At the nominator‘s option, additional letters of endorsement may be attached to the online form.
2. All nomination packages must be received at ISTA on or prior to the deadline.