Source: ASF
The official announcement was made recently at an ASF meeting in New York City. Mr. Dillon has been a member of ASF’s U.S. Board since 2010, serving as Chairman of the ASF (US) Research and Environment Committee from 2013 – 2015. Prior to joining the ASF (US) Board of Directors he served on the ASF (US) National Advisory Council from 1996 to 1998. He also co-chaired the recent Miramichi Salmon Association Capital Campaign that raised over $2 million to help support MSA’s salmon conservation and research activities.
When Mr. Dillon was Chairman and CEO of International Paper (IP), he helped secure IP’s involvement and financial support for ASF’s cutting edge salmon tracking research. A smolt wheel was placed at the confluence of Rocky Brook and the Miramichi River to capture wild smolt for tracking purposes. Smolts captured in the smolt wheel are surgically implanted with a sonic tracking device so that ASF biologists can follow the smolt from Rocky Brook down the Miramichi, thru the estuary and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Through this research, ASF is determining the primary causes of poor smolt survival so that effective salmon recovery strategies can be implemented.
Mr. Dillon has fished for Atlantic salmon widely but his favorite river is New Brunswick’s Miramichi where he fishes at the Rocky Brook Camp owned by International Paper. As the retired long-time Chairman and CEO of International Paper, he has visited the Rocky Brook Camp regularly. It’s there that his interest and concern for the health and future of wild Atlantic salmon, the Miramichi River and the rural communities that depend upon a vibrant recreational salmon fishery were instilled.
“John is very passionate about ASF research, having played an active role since the 1990’s on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick,” said ASF President Bill Taylor. “A smolt wheel, key to our tracking research and still in place today, is thanks to his keen interest in understanding the many issues and threats impacting salmon survival both in rivers and at sea. John realizes that to effectively manage and conserve wild Atlantic salmon, we must understand the pressures influencing the species throughout its life history.”
Mr. Dillon joined Evercore Partners, an investment bank, in March 2005. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of International Paper from April 1, 1996 to October 31, 2003. Mr. Dillon was elected to International Paper’s Board of Directors in 1991.
Mr. Dillon received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Hartford and a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. His professional affiliations include membership on the Board of Directors of Kellogg Company and Progressive Waste Solutions, Ltd. He retired as a Caterpillar director in December 2010 and DuPont director in April 2011. A longtime member of the Business Council, Mr. Dillon served as chairman of the Business Roundtable (BRT), Chairman of the Board of the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), and chairman of the board of governors of the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement (NCASI). He was a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Trade Policy and Negotiations.
Mr. Dillon assumes the role from Christopher H. Buckley Jr., who had chaired ASF’s U.S. Board of Directors since 2012.
