Corvallis Retirement

Paul M. Dunn: able to expand that and to make contacts with other companies, timber trade associations and institutions, forest schools, and others. So the program grew considerably, especially in the area of forested land acquisitions. The company became interested in expanding not only the manufacturing plants, but also forest lands, the latter particularly, because if the overall corporate program is going to be more productive, you must have the forest base in order to provide materials for the mills. At that time the company was a pulp and paper company only, with mills making paper products. Since that time or primarily during the period that I was there and since, it has expanded considerably and now is one of the several large integrated forest products companies. As it has not only pulp and paper mills; it has box mills, container plants, saw mills, plywood plants and numerous other associated facilities. Paper bags, for example, and other numerable varieties of paper products, and it is one of the larger corporations of its kind.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How long were you with this Company?

Paul M. Dunn: Thirteen years.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Let's see, you went in 1955?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, and retired in 1968.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: You retired from St. Regis in 1968?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, and returned to Corvallis to live. However, I still have a consulting arrangement with St. Regis and have responsibilities for certain programs.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What have you done in the last ten years since you returned to Corvallis?

Paul M. Dunn: Various things. I accumulated quite a number of contacts during the period I was with St. Regis. I was a member of the American Forestry Association for many years, and became a director and later president for three years. Also, I was a member of the Forest History Society, and was a director and president for two years. I was associated with the American Pulpwood Association, an industry group, and with the Southern Pulpwood Conservation Association and was president for one year. Many of those organizations I have kept in touch with and I am still actively associated with several of them. One of the programs that had been started, just before I joined St. Regis, I continued and I am still in charge of, is the St. Regis Forestry Educational Program, wherein a forestry fellowship and forestry scholarships

Paul M. Dunn: are offered annually to graduates and undergraduates of forestry schools. Following my return to Corvallis, I became active again in the Western Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon [now the World Forestry Center]. This was a program that I had been close to while I was Dean. I am on the Center's Board of Trustees. These are some of my several interests.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What changes do you see in Oregon State or the School of Forestry since you came back from New York City, and from the time when you first started here in 1942? What stands out in your mind?

Paul M. Dunn: The teaching curriculum for undergraduates and graduates had been expanded and grown during the time I was away. Also, the research program has expanded and the staff is much larger. I would say we had a staff of twenty or thirty when I left, and now it has grown to sixty or seventy or more. Now there is a fourth department - the Department of Resource Recreation Management. The addition of that program to the School has expanded, not only in the number of students, but in the interests and the associated activities. Those are the major changes. The School of Forestry has always been interested in the State program, since, from the outset, the dean was an ex officio member of the State Board of Forestry. So the relationship between the School and the State Program has been successful, and has grown.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Let's back up a little. You left here in 1955, resigned your deanship, and then who succeeded you?

Paul M. Dunn: Dean Walter McCulloch.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How long was he dean?

Paul M. Dunn: I think, because of health, he stepped down in 1965.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What are the reasons you came back to Corvallis instead of, say, Utah, or Iowa, or somewhere else?

Paul M. Dunn: It was our first choice for a place to retire. During our travels, particularly during my years with St. Regis, we had a chance to visit all fifty states and all the provinces in Canada. We thought we might retire to the Southeast, California, and elsewhere, but we found nothing we liked better than Corvallis. We enjoyed living here from 1942 to 1955. Although Corvallis has grown considerably it is still a very nice place to live. We also had many friends here. Although we still maintain