First, let me say what a pleasure it is to greet alumni and friends of the College of Forestry from these pages for the first time. Since I joined the College as Dean last July, I have had the opportunity to meet some of you, and I have been gratified at the level of commitment and support I've found among you.
      In this issue you'll read about a new endowed professorship, funded by a generous gift from three brothers and a sister who wished to honor their father, the late Edmund Hayes. Hayes was a leader in Oregon's forest industry during the middle years of the last century. Thanks partly to his persuasive efforts, the timber industry moved toward a progressive forestry based on conservation of the forest resource through successful reforestation and managing of second-growth forests under sound silvicultural principles.
       Edmund Hayes, Jr. (Ned), his brothers Frederick and Philip, and their sister Cornelia Hayes Stevens, share their father's progressive spirit. Their gift recognizes the need for continued research into silviculture and forest ecology, so that there can be a scientific basis to evaluate different ideas for growing and managing forests. I'm grateful to the Hayes family for supporting the College's mission to pursue leading-edge research into all aspects of forestry.
       I'm also grateful to them for adding to the number of our endowed faculty positions — a priority of mine. We now have five endowed positions — you can read about them, and the scientists who serve in them, on page 7. It's my goal to double their number in five years and triple it in 10.
       It would be nice to think we could conduct the kind of relevant, problem-solving research that's needed today without private support, but the fact is, we can't. Not only do private gifts expand our research capability (and our teaching and outreach capability) in absolute terms, but they also offer College scientists the means to explore less-charted territory, to uncover the science and find answers not only to the problems of today but to those of tomorrow.

>> Table of Contents