RPN makes staff changes

AKRON—Rubber & Plastics News has made two changes to its staff effective Jan. 1.

Sally Dietz will have expanded duties, while rubber industry veteran John Dick comes aboard as technical editor.

Dietz previously was assistant trade show manager for RPN, helping plan and coordinate the publication's various conferences, including the International Tire Exhibition & Conference, along with niche technical conferences focusing on the silicone, latex, hose and automotive industries.

Her new title is assistant events manager/editorial coordinator. Under that role, she also will be responsible for collecting the information for and coordinating the production of RPN's annual Rubber Directory & Buyers Guide.

She joined RPN in 2012. Prior to that, Dietz worked at NTB and as director of marketing for Avalon Foodservice, a wholesale distributor. She can be reached at [email protected].

Dick will fill the technical editor role that had been handled by Harold Herzlich since 1992, before retiring from the post at the end of 2017.

As technical editor, Dick will work with authors in securing papers to run in the Technical Notebook section of each RPN issue. He also will represent RPN at ACS Rubber Division meetings and other industry events.

Dick has more than 45 years of experience in the rubber industry. He originally was with BF Goodrich and later Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co., before joining Monsanto's Rubber Instruments Group (now Alpha Technologies) in 1991. He retired from Alpha in 2016.

He has authored more than 80 journal and magazine publications, including five books on rubber technology. He is a fellow in ASTM International, and has been the leader of the U.S. delegation to ISO TC-45 on Rubber since 1992.

Dick also is a member of the American Chemical Society and Society of Rheology. He has received numerous industry awards, including being the co-recipient of the Rubber Division's 2014 Fernley H. Banbury Award for Rheology.

Besides his duties as RPN's technical editor, Dick will continue his consulting business and as an instructor of a wide variety of rubber technology courses. He can be reached at [email protected].