In memoriam

Robert R. Reichart, Forestry professor emeritus and the chief architect of the College's Forestry Media Center and Self-Learning Center, died in April in Corvallis. He was 103.

Reichart was born in New York City in 1896 to Jacob and Annie Marks Reichart. He came to Corvallis in 1911 with his parents, who operated a dry goods store and later a dry cleaning business. He attended high school in New York and Corvallis, and although he never completed his diploma, earned a degree from Oregon Agricultural College's Commerce department in 1917. He was active on the debate team and the Barometer staff, and he worked for President Jasper Kerr.

He joined the Oregon State faculty to teach accounting, but shortly afterward moved to the English department, where he stayed for 13 years. He received a master's from Oregon State in 1937 and a doctorate in education from the University of Oregon in 1941. He taught classes in the Education department in educational psychology and history of education, and he directed the OSC Counseling Bureau.

Reichart was a pioneer in improving educational methods. He had the idea that students can learn more efficiently when they control the rate of their study, and he was an early proponent of using audiovisual media to enhance students' learning. These two concepts are taken for granted by educators today, but at the time they were highly experimental. In the years after the Second World War Reichart developed a self-learning center at the University, a place where students could learn on their own, with access to learning materials in the form of slides, audio tapes, and film.

In 1964, Dean Walter McCulloch, intrigued by Reichart's innovative educational methods, asked him to develop a similar self-learning laboratory at the School of Forestry. With financial support from the Hill Family Foundation, Reichart set up a place where forestry students could learn from slides, audio tapes, film, and, later, videotapes, television, and the Internet. He helped write a slide-tape presentation on forestry careers, gave many seminars on innovative teaching techniques, began a library of recorded student and faculty presentations that would later be transformed into learning packages, and helped students improve their communication skills by showing them how to produce slide-tapes for class projects.

Reichart's work lives on today in the College of Forestry's Self-Learning Center, which is heavily used by students, and its Forestry Media Center, which produces educational materials not only for students but for many other audiences. Reichart's model of a self-learning center has been widely adopted by other departments at Oregon State and by sister colleges and universities in Oregon.

In 1974, Reichart retired from OSU (he became emeritus professor of Education in 1964 and of Forestry in 1974) and joined Oregon Health Sciences University faculty as part-time director of medical education. He commuted to Portland twice or three times a week until 1986, when he retired at age 90.

He was technologically savvyÑkeeping in touch with former students and colleagues via e-mail. He bought a new computer last year, when he was 102.

Reichart is survived by his daughter, Muriel Ann Wyatt of Corvallis; a grandson, a granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Fayne Bell Reichart, and a daughter preceded him in death. Memorial contributions may be made to Oregon State University Valley Library.

Richard Laidlaw "Rich" Barber '55, '79, and '84 died in April of lung cancer at his home in Bend. He was 65. In 1955 he received his bachelor's degree in Forest Management and was honored as a Designated Distinguished Military Graduate. He served 22 years in the Army, receiving decorations for valor while on tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam. After retiring from military service, he returned to OSU, earning a Master of Forestry degree in 1979 and a doctorate in Forest Economics and Management in 1984. He taught at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, retiring as full professor in 1992.

Maj. Mathew Frederik Laiho '82, USAF, died in January in the crash of a U.S. Air Force aircraft. He was 40. He received a bachelor's in Forest Management in 1982. He received a commission in the Air Force when he graduated from OSU. He served with the 92nd Air Refueling Wing until 1989, and the 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington. He served in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm campaigns.

Sanga Sabhasri '57 and '59 died in January in his native country of Thailand. Dr. Sanga, as he was known to his acquaintances at the College, had a long and distinguished career as a scientist and leader of research initiatives within his own country and internationally.

An expert on tropical forest ecosystems, he was credited with improving environmental conditions in Thailand's forest lands and strengthening the country's environmental research capabilities. He received an honorary doctorate from OSU in June of 1995, and was the subject of an Alumni Profile in the Winter 1996 issue of Focus on Forestry.

Dr. Sanga came to the United States in 1957 to earn a bachelor's degree in Forest Management; he stayed and earned a master's in 1959. While a student here, he met the woman who was to become his wife, a University of Oregon student named Vachira Satayayuk. (They met at a dance at the Forestry Club cabin, in fact.) They were married in 1962.

Dr. Sanga returned home to join the forestry faculty at Kasetsart University in Bangkok. He rose to become associate dean of the faculty, then dean, and, in 1972, vice-rector for academic affairs. In 1973 he entered government service as secretary-general of the National Research Council. In 1981 he became permanent secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Energy, and in 1992 he became head of Thailand's National Research Council. He was chancellor of Kasetsart University and chairman of the national Botanic Garden Organization.

Dr. Sanga is survived by his wife, Vachira, and their son, Chayodom. A mourning ceremony was held in February, and Thailand's King Bhumipol presided at a state funeral in May.

Charles L. Foster '39 died in January of heart failure in Creswell, Oregon. He was 82. In 1939 he received his bachelor's in Forest Management. He went to work for Snellstrom Lumber Co. in Vaughn in 1943 and remained with the company until he retired in 1977.

Professor Emeritus James T. Krygier died at his home on May 2. He served the College as teacher, researcher, and the first program leader of Forestry Extension. He was a founding director of the OSU Water Resources Research Institute, a co-leader of the Alsea Basin Logging and Aquatic Resources study, and one of the key authors of the Renewable Resources Extension Act. "Jim's service to the College was exemplary," says Dean George Brown, "and we are a better institution because of his many contributions." Cards to his family may be sent to 13070 Jacob Court, Tigard, Oregon, 97224.

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