College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Alumni & Friends

Dr. Brian Via’s path to becoming the next director of the MSU School of Packaging (SoP) hasn’t been linear. His career has taken him on a tour of the entire supply chain, from retail floors to forestry labs, manufacturing plants to academic research centers. Along the way, one theme kept resurfacing: packaging.

“I’ve meandered around in life,” Via said. “But I always found myself coming back to packaging.”

As incoming director of the world's largest and top-ranked packaging program, Via plans to use his multifaceted experience to enhance the SoP’s legacy of impact and innovation.

Via comes to MSU from Auburn University, where he held joint appointments in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment, and in the Department of Biosystems Engineering in the College of Agriculture.

Since 2012, he’s served as the director of the Forest Products Development Center, an interdisciplinary hub connecting research to industry priorities. Under his leadership, the Center strengthened industry partnerships and secured significant external funding.

Via earned his bachelor’s degree in forestry and wildlife and his M.S. in forest products from Virginia Tech, followed by a Ph.D. in natural resource science from Louisiana State University.

“Working backwards”

Via began his career working at the end of the supply chain in a retail position at Kmart. There he interacted directly with customers and this engagement shaped how he thinks about problems and solutions.

“One of the most important things I learned was to meet the needs of the individual customer,” he said. “If you understand what the customer needs, you can work backwards from there.”

That “working backwards” mindset still guides him today. Rather than starting with theory, Via finds current challenges and builds research questions around solving them.

From retail, he moved into biotechnology at International Paper R&D, where he worked on packaging applications with fiber-based materials from superior loblolly pine families.  

He later joined Louisiana-Pacific, focusing on sustainable adhesives and system-wide data analytics for material weight reduction. Across industries, he gained exposure to the full lifecycle of materials, from raw inputs to finished products.

“That supply chain perspective, seeing how everything connects, is what makes packaging so interesting to me,” said Via.

Finding his place in academia

In 2008, Via joined the faculty at Auburn University. After decades of success in working with industry, the transition to this new field took some time to get used to.

“Initially I felt like a fish out of water,” he said. “Industry and academia operate very differently.”

But he found his footing and rose through the ranks. Throughout his experience in higher education, he’s been guided by advice he received as a graduate student: hire people smarter than you.

“At first, it took me a while to understand what that really meant,” Via said. “But it’s about humility. It’s about recognizing the strengths of people around you and figuring out how to bring those pieces together.”

“The best outcomes come from teams”

No matter his role, teambuilding has always been the core of Via’s success as a leader. “I’ve never done anything alone,” he said. “The best outcomes come from teams. I want people to feel valued and supported. When they do, the entire program benefits.”

Via’s also placed a strong emphasis on student success. He has worked closely with students in the classroom, on research projects and in career placement, helping many secure roles across the packaging and forest products industries.

“I’ve always seen students as the connection point between what we do in research and what industry actually needs,” Via said. “Helping them find their path is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.”

While his role as SoP director will limit teaching opportunities, he intends to stay accessible to students. “I’ll definitely miss teaching,” he said, “but I’m not giving it up, it just might look different. Whether it’s guest lectures, workshops or just conversations in the hallway, those interactions are important to me.”

He envisions informal engagement as part of his regular routine, creating opportunities for “five-minute teaching moments” and spontaneous conversations that help him stay connected to student perspectives.

“I want students to feel like they can approach me,” said Via. “We have an incredible community here and I want to be part of that environment, not separate from it.”

Packaging 2.0

As he steps into his new role, Via is focused less on redefining the SoP and more on positioning it for continued success in an evolving and highly competitive field.

The program has a storied legacy, and Via recognizes that he’s joining the school at a pivotal moment.  In April, MSU announced a $47 million commitment to the SoP from alumnus Charles “Chuck” and Jacqueline “Jackie” Frasier, the largest gift in program history.

The Frasiers transformational investment is shaping the future of the SoP, including the Packaging 2.0 expansion. This project will significantly enhance the school’s capabilities by nearly doubling the size of the existing building and expanding both teaching and research environments.

Via said the momentum around Packaging 2.0 reflects the collective strength of the SoP and MSU’s role as a global leader within the packaging industry. “The foundation is already strong,” he said. “The opportunity now is to keep building, to connect more people, more ideas and more industries.”

You can learn more about Packaging 2.0 here.