August 08, 2018

O’Connor brings biorefinery expertise to the Athena Board of Directors.

The Athena Sustainable Materials Institute Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Brian O’Connor as its newest member.

Dr. O’Connor is replacing FPInnovations Board member Steven Kuan, who has taken on a new portfolio with FPInnovations and felt the Board would be best served by nominating a successor. “Brian’s knowledge and experience in managing environmental impact in the pulp, paper and bioproducts sector will help guide the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute,” said Kuan.

“On behalf of the Board I wish to thank Steven Kuan for his contributions on the Board. I am also very grateful for his help nominating Brian O’Connor as his replacement,” said Stephen Pope, Chair of the Athena Board.

Dr. Brian O’Connor is currently the Senior Director of Business Analytics at FPInnovations, a research institute covering all aspects of the forest products industry. He received his PhD in organic chemistry from McGill University in 1987, held a postdoctoral fellowship at Purdue University in Indiana and started his career at FPInnovations in 1988.

His responsibilities include environmental assessment of new products and processes, GHG assessments across the full forest value chain, regulatory affairs, market intelligence, thermochemical conversion processes, and corrosion related to biorefinery processes. He is also leading the regulatory efforts related to the transformation of the forest sector through the introduction of cellulosic nanomaterials (nanocrystalline cellulose and cellulose filaments), lignin and novel biorefinery products.