Stoud Jordan Award 2006 Recipient
Paul Richards
History and contribution to the industry
Paul Richards, the next recipient of the AACT Stroud Jordan designation, has worked at Knechtel Laboratories since 1966. He is currently president and coowner of Knechtel.
Acknowledged as a mentor and educator, Richards has been involved in National Confectioners Association (NCA) short courses, the NCA Resident Confectionery Course at the University of Wisconsin and seminars for the Retail Confectioners International (RCI).
Richards has been instrumental in the development of AACT Chicago chapter's Triton College courses for confectioners. He, Tim Murphy and Dick Schier launched these sessions under the AACT umbrella to advance confectionery education in the region.
Richards presents numerous programs each year for various confectionery and foods clients. In addition to his formal work with the RCI, he has consistently been available to RCI members for informal consulting. Richards' involvement at the AACT Chicago chapter has included service as president, vice president and membership chair. In addition, he is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists.
Choosing to help people more on a one-to-one basis, rather than presenting or lecturing in front of large groups, Richards has creative problem-solving skills that has led to work on 17 patents. These patents are generally in the basic work associated with new food/confectionery ingredients, i.e. aspartame, glazes, processing technologies, etc.
He has contributed to numerous industry papers and works published by Robert Boutin, Elaine Gonzalez, Brian Jackson and Bernard Minifie. Educated in England, Richards graduated from the University of London holding a degree in cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery; he also holds the final certificate in the same field from the City and Guilds of London Institute. He has earned supplemental diplomas in product development and nutrition from Zentralfachachule de Deutschen, Suszwarenwirtschaft (ZDS) Germany.
This award is presented by the AACT in honor of the late Dr. Stroud Jordan, a pioneer candy technologist. The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of confectionery technology.
