School of Forest Resources: Centennial Celebrates Past; New Study Bodes Well for Future

A scene from the dedication of the Forest Resources Building last fall.

It’s safe to say Penn State’s School of Forest Resources has come a long way in a hundred years, and increasingly, folks are noticing.

Celebrating its centennial in 2007, the forestry program was recently named one of the 10 best in North America by an Auburn University study published in the Journal of Forestry, which evaluated the research published by faculty members, how often this research was cited in other studies, and overall perceptions of the academic program.

“This honor focuses on our faculty, without even taking into account our new facilities,” says Charles Strauss, director of the school. “You might say it recognizes the human dimensions of our school, in terms of both our faculty and staff and, of course, our students and alumni.

“We are proud to be recognized as one of the top forestry schools—and to have it happen as we kick off our centennial celebration and move into our new $30.5 million building—we couldn’t have written a better script,” Strauss adds with a chuckle. “It just sets the tone for the whole year.”

Despite the recent accolades, the School of Forest Resources had a rather humble beginning. In 1907, it started as the Department of Forestry in the School of Agriculture at the Pennsylvania State College. Early forestry students studied in Hemlock Hall, a drafty, two-story frame building erected to house the new department. In 1940, the school moved into Ferguson Building, its home until fall 2006, when the new 98,000-square-foot Forest Resources Building opened. During the past century, more than 6,000 students have graduated in Forest Science and in the expanded disciplines of Wood Products (initiated in 1941) and Wildlife and Fisheries Science (1981).

The centennial will be celebrated officially during the weekend of April 27-29 by alumni, friends, families, faculty, staff, and students. Many of the activities will take place in and around the new building, at the corner of Bigler Road and Park Avenue on the University Park campus.

The festivities begin on Friday afternoon with an opening session marking the Centennial Tree dedication, a historic review presentation, and a reception. Friday evening has been designated for “class get-togethers.”

Saturday’s activities offer a variety of options, including tours of the new Forest Resources Building, the Penn State campus (on foot or aboard the university’s Molly Trolley), Beaver Stadium, Pattee Library, and the Stone Valley Experimental Forest. A catered barbecue lunch at the building is slated.

Saturday afternoon’s “fun fair” at the Forest Resources Building will feature live music, displays, and activities for children. A woodsmen demonstration and a quiz bowl will top off Saturday afternoon’s events. Saturday evening’s reception, class photos, and dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn will provide additional opportunity for attendees to catch up on the careers and families of alumni and friends.

A silent auction will be open for bidding on Friday and Saturday. Auction proceeds will benefit student activities. Student groups affiliated with the School of Forest Resources will also sponsor a centennial clothing sale.

The weekend will culminate on Sunday with an ecumenical service, brunch, and closing remarks.

A Century of Forest Resources Education at Penn State: Serving Our Forests, Waters, Wildlife, and Wood Industries, a history of the School of Forest Resources written by Henry Gerhold, professor of forest genetics, and published by Penn State University Press, will be available to centennial celebration attendees.

The book contains brief biographies of nine Penn State pioneers in forestry education, 15 directors and interim directors of the school, and 54 alumni and professors. Historical descriptions of faculty and staff, facilities, academic curricula, student organizations, research, extension and outreach, and alumni accomplishments include some little-known facts:

• A captive bear once prowled the halls of Hemlock Hall—also known as the Old Green Shack or “Fergie’s Woodshed”—and sniffed at a visiting professor from Yale as he lectured.
• Students in summer camp sometimes walked 15 miles to revel in exciting weekends in State College.
• The nation’s first African-American forester graduated in the original class of the State Forest Academy at Mont Alto, which was absorbed by the School of Forest Resources in 1929.
• One of the school’s early graduates became the governor of Alaska, and another became a senator in Oregon.
• A former instructor in the school founded the Penn State Ski Club and helped to design and develop the Arapahoe Basin and Keystone ski resorts in Colorado, and he and his wife still ski in their 90s.Among the photos in the book are students at Mont Alto on horseback, instructors at Blue Jay summer camp, and Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and later governor of Pennsylvania, with the Nittany Lion mascot.

As impressive as the School of Forest Resources’ history is, its future promises to be even better, according to Strauss. “Being named as one of the top forestry programs in a peerreviewed study is a strong endorsement of the quality of our faculty,” he says. “When colleagues across the country rank our programs near the top, prospective students, potential employers, and users of our research and extension programs notice, and it gives us added momentum as we embark on our second century.”

For more information about the School of Forest Resources and its centennial celebration, visit the Web at http://www.sfr.cas.psu.edu/.

—Jeff Mulhollem