Coffin spotlighted by Insight Into Academia
CEC professor a Higher Ed Hero, also earned Nicholson Medal from TAPPI earlier this year
Coffin spotlighted by Insight Into Academia
CEC professor a Higher Ed Hero, also earned Nicholson Medal from TAPPI earlier this year
Praised for his “sustained commitment to student success,” Miami University’s Douglas Coffin was recently spotlighted as a Higher Ed Hero by Insight Into Academia magazine.
Coffin, a professor of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering, was noted for an influence on students that “reaches far beyond lectures and lab works.”
“His impact is woven into the experiences of the students he teaches, mentors, and prepares for the next stage of their lives,” Insight Into Academia wrote.
Part of Miami’s faculty since 2002, Coffin is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on the mechanics of fiber-based materials for research. Earlier this year, Coffin earned the 2026 Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award from the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), the leading association for the pulp, paper, tissue, packaging, and converting industry.
The Nicholson Medal is TAPPI’s highest technical honor in recognition of an individual’s exceptional contributions to the industry.
Insight Into Academia lauded Coffin for an approach to teaching that is more than just delivering content. “He believes in helping students develop critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and the confidence to apply what they’ve learned in new and evolving contexts.”
Coffin also served two tenures as editor in chief of the TAPPI Journal. He also was a guest researcher at STFI, a pulp and paper research institute in Stockholm, Sweden, for a year before joining Miami’s faculty. Coffin's research explores the complexities of dimensional stability, creep, and the mechanical behavior of paper and board.
In March, Coffin said that undergraduate teaching is what initially drew him to Oxford.
“My area is kind of unique,” Coffin said. “There aren’t a lot of schools in the country who deal with paper on the engineering side. Miami has been doing it since 1957. Even though a lot has changed over the years, we still have a paper science foundation. The industry hires our students. They value the education we give people at Miami.”