Phoenix Award 2010

The Phoenix Award is given in recognition of outstanding individuals who have made noteworthy contributions in the field of glass.

Dr. Day received the glass industry´s most prestigious award at a special banquet held in his honour at Kemolls in St. Louis, on the 17th September, 2010. Dr. Day was unanimously selected for the award in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the glass industry. Dr. Day said in his acceptance speech that it was a great honour not only for himself, but also for his family and for the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla) where he had enjoyed an exciting career spanning nearly 50 years.

Dr. Day began his speech by introducing and paying tribute to his wife Shirley, his children Lynne and Ted, and a special guest; Dr. Guy Rindone. It was revealed that Dr. Rindone has a special connection to the Phoenix Award. Three Phoenix Award recipients have studied under Dr. Rindone. Warren W. Wolf, who received the award in 2006, was an undergraduate student of Dr. Rindone. Bob Ryder, who received the award in 1989, and Delbert E. Day had the same graduate advisor at Penn State…Dr. Guy Rindone.

In his career as a university teacher and researcher, Dr. Day has published more than 365 technical papers dealing with the structure, properties and uses of glass, edited three books and received 45 US and foreign patents. Whilst a graduate at Penn State, he received a fellowship from PPG and this is where he first became aware of the potential of glass microspheres. Dr. Day commented in his speech ‘at the time, I didn’t realize that glass microspheres would be such a large part of my career’.

Dr. Day co-invented the special purpose glass microspheres, TheraSphere™, which are now in commercial use at more than 100 sites worldwide to treat patients with inoperable liver cancer. Dr. Day said in his speech that after 20 years of teaching he had the opportunity to become an entrepreneur and form a company to manufacture the microspheres after no existing company had shown interest. Mo-Sci Corporation was formed and now supplies glass microspheres, special fibres and other special glass products to 1200 customers in the US, including four of the Fortune top 5 companies, and 40 foreign countries. Mo-Sci Corporation has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Dr. Day closed his speech by remarking on a wonderful evening and one he would always remember. Dr. Day has had such a positive impact on the lives of many people as a teacher, a scientist, an inventor and an entrepreneur that I am sure he embodies all the attributes and spirit that the Phoenix Award was originally formed to highlight and honour.

Delbert E. Day joins a very distinguished list of recipients who have been recognized by the Phoenix Award Committee for their contributions to the areas of glass production, science, education and art.

THE PHOENIX AWARD

In May 1971, representatives of nineteen major suppliers to the glass industry met in New York City to form an association for the express purpose of recognizing outstanding individuals who have made noteworthy contributions to the glass industry. As a result of this meeting, the Phoenix Award Committee was born and soon adopted a code of by-laws with the following preamble:

“It is the purpose of the Phoenix Award Committee to select, each year, a person now living, who has been active in and has made contributions to any phase of the glass industry. This may be in the field of science, production, or education relating to glass, and shall include glass containers, fiber glass, scientific glass, flat glass, tableware and electronic glass. As a symbol of this Award the recipients shall be presented with a glass sculpture representing the mythological Phoenix Bird.” 

Committee members serve for a period of four years and six new members are elected each year to replace those whose terms have expired. Membership is on an individual, not on a corporate basis. Members must be employed by a company which is a supplier to the glass manufacturing industry.

THE 2010 PHOENIX AWARD COMMITTEE

Chairperson: David Senior Zedtec Ltd.

Patrick Battersby Emhart Glass

Jochen Böellert Glass Industry Consultant

Lincoln Brown Glass Site Services

Robert Chambers Fosbel Inc.

Mike Connop PT Dyson Zedmark Indonesia, Ltd.

Jean Coquatrix Bernard Bonnefond

Henry Dimmick, Jr. AGR International, Inc.

Wally Evans Special Shapes Refractory Company

Paul Hutchinson DSF Refractories & Minerals Ltd.

Gordon Jungquist Henry F. Teichmann, Inc.

George Kopser Hotwork-USA

Hans Mahrenholtz Linde AG

Kirk Milling OCI Chemical

H J Moon Kukdong International Co Ltd.

Mike Nelson Glass Industry Consultant

Timothy Park Merkle International, Inc.

Dave Rollins Dura Temp Corporation

Thorsten Seidel Ernst Pennekamp GmbH & Co.

Helmut Sorg Nikolaus Sorg GmbH & Co. KG

Richard Stormont Electroglass Ltd.

Dave Ulmer US Silica

Roger Weilacher Glass Design Inc.