H. Richard Landis is a pioneer in thin-wall injection molding. He founded Landis Plastics Inc. in 1956, and the Chicago Ridge, Ill.-based company grew from a one-machine operation in 1956 to a business that employs more than 2,100 people at six U.S. locations.

Landis Plastics developed marbleized tile, coffee can lids, dairy tubs.

He worked closely with Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. to develop high-speed injection molding machines for thin-wall containers.

Landis holds 16 patents, including the tamper-evident tear strip for five-gallon containers and the lids for stackable dairy containers. Landis Plastics was one of the first molders to use stack molds, in 1966, and developed one of the first 32-cavity molds in 1980. The company also was one of the first to print on non-round containers, in 1999.

Landis retired as chairman and CEO in 2003.

He was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 2012.