NC State Student Wins Prestigous Cullison Award from TAPPI

The William L. Cullison Scholarship is annually awarded by TAPPI to a student entering their third year of college and provides the student with $4,000 per year for their junior and senior years of college. The recipient of this award is one who demonstrates extraordinary leadership skills and is pursuing a career in the pulp and paper industry. The 2020 scholarship winner is Matthew Klassa, a junior at NC State University in the Paper Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering dual degree program, with two minors: Cross Disciplinary Leadership Studies and Business Administration.

Matthew Klassa is a well-rounded student who enjoys spending his free time outdoors playing golf, kayaking, or going camping. He gained work experience in the industry with Domtar Paper at their Plymouth, NC facility and interned with International Paper in Newport, IN.  Both locations provided a wealth of hands-on experience within the paper industry. Matthew describes his passion for the paper industry as being fueled by his desire to make the world a better place, by providing essential products to all people in an environmentally sustainable manner. As the recipient of the William L. Cullison Scholarship, his advice for students interested in receiving scholarships in the future is “your letters of recommendation speak volumes” and he expresses the importance of choosing people who know your work ethic and your character well to write those letters. The deadline for the 2021 scholarship application is February 15, 2021.  For more information, visit TAPPI’s website.

Check out Matthew’s #askpaper video on what it is like to work in a paper mill.

By guest blogger Mackenzie Ingle