The American Society of Baking (ASB) announced that longtime baking industry professionals Gilbert (Gil) Bundy and James Diver became the newest members of the society’s Baking Hall of Fame (HOF) Evaluation Committee. The two replace Laurie Gorton and Bill Zimmerman, Sr., who retired from the committee earlier this year.
“As I began my exhaustive search for new committee members, I was focused on finding industry veterans with the highest integrity,” said Rowdy Brixey, committee chair and president, Brixey Engineering Strategies & Training. “You can imagine my excitement when both Gil and Jim accepted my invitation, strengthening our HOF Committee for many years to come.”
Mr. Bundy started working in the baking industry in 1976 for his father, Russ, at Russell T. Bundy Associates, while he was still in high school. After completing college at Denison University in 1981, Mr. Bundy officially began his career by launching a new Pan Glo plant in New Jersey. After that successful venture, he continued to help start and manage several new and acquired pan recoating facilities.
Mr. Diver has been an active member of the ASB since 1978, serving on various committees and receiving the Robert A. Fischer Distinguished Service award in 2016.
A member of BEMA and the Baking Industry Sanitation Standards Committee, he worked for several baking and packaging equipment companies, including Dunbar Systems, Formost Packaging, SASIB Food Machinery (now Stewart Systems, a Middleby Bakery company) and Pulver Systems, to name a few.
A US Army veteran, Mr. Diver has eight US patents, three Canadian patents and one European patent for a variety of baking, conveying and packaging equipment.
The ASB will recognize the next class of Baking Hall of Fame inductees at its upcoming BakingTech, which runs Feb. 14-16, 2021, in Chicago. Nominations for the Baking Hall of Fame should be sent to the society by Sept. 1, 2020.
