One of my favorite parts of being the CFRES dean is meeting and hearing from our alumni. Having taught in the college for 25 years, I see many of my former students at professional meetings around the Midwest and around the world.
Others may predate my arrival in Houghton, but all of our alumni are ambassadors for our institution. Their success and achievements reflect on us. They also play an enormous role in building and maintaining our reputation, which circles back to program rankings and even new student recruitment. By that measure, we must be doing something right. CFRES is the fastest growing undergraduate academic unit at Michigan Tech. Our programs are routinely ranked first in the region and in the top 10 nationally.
Credit for these accomplishments goes to the dozens of faculty, staff, students—and yes, you alumni!—who worked hard in college and then harder still to build their careers and lives. When you say good things about Michigan Tech and our college, it really does help.
When you look back on how you got where you are, I hope you conclude that your time in our college with professors, fellow students, and places like the Ford Center and the U.J. Noblet Building played a role in your success.
At our most recent Michigan Tech alumni reunion, I had the pleasure of meeting many proud graduates from the 1970s, 1960s, and even 1950s. The gathering at the Douglass House was great fun. The next day, a half dozen alumni visited our building for a tour of the Isle Royale wolf-moose laboratory, the forest health lab, and the Pilot Plant used for wood products research. After the tour, I had the pleasure of sitting down with 1968 forestry grad Walter Cook. Walt’s son had driven him to Houghton from Athens, Georgia where he had been a professor at the University of Georgia from 1971 until his retirement. Walt shared some highlights of his life and career including living at the Ford Center in Alberta for three years, and leading a decades-long campaign to build hiking trails to make it easier for people to get into and appreciate the woods. In a letter I received after he returned, he wrote:
“I developed an interest in forest beauty. In my final year, I “invented” a course in aesthetic forestry, which drew many (up to 20) students from other parts of the university, with a number of students from landscape design, law, journalism, education, etc. Our forestry school is having a luncheon for retired faculty on Sept. 5. I’ll be sure to mention the reunion at MTU.”
Walt Cook’s life deserves celebration for many other achievements including service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, his service as a founding board member of the Oconee River Land Trust, a co-founder of the Sandy Creek Nature Center, and thousands of volunteer hours building trails, leading hikes, and teaching classes that together leave a profound legacy for Walt and his community. In 1985, Walt was named Conservationist of the Year by the Georgia Wildlife Federation, and in 2021, on his 90th birthday, he was honored by having the Mayor of Athens, Georgia officially create Walt Cook Day.
Like many CFRES alumni, Walt was someone who pushed the boundaries of what it means to be a forester. Today, we offer not one but seven degree programs as we continue to encourage our students to think boldly about what they can achieve for themselves and what they can contribute to their community and our planet.
– David Flaspohler