OSC Career Reflections

Paul M. Dunn: contacts in Logan, we decided to come here. Weather was a factor, too, not only the people but the weather, as we didn't mind the rain.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: You had a long and productive career. As you look on it now in retrospect, what are the high points? What stands out in your mind as really being fulfilling to you?

Paul M. Dunn: I've been very fortunate. Opportunities have come along and we have adjusted to the changes. It so happened that I was involved in several productive periods of forestry throughout the United States. First in Missouri with the start of the forestry program that was abandoned because of a cut off of funds. Later, in the mid 1930's, it was reconstructed into a very fine state program with forestry instruction at the University of Missouri. Then we were involved from the outset of the Forestry School program in Utah and now it is well recognized as the College of Forest Resources with a very fine program. Here, at OSU, we were able to pick up after a lapse in the program, with the change of deans and the war period, and I was able to help guide the program during its continuing productive years and turn everything over in each instance to somebody else. Those are the high points as I remember them. I was able to be a part of a growing program during those years and now I can sit back and take much satisfaction and some pride in what has happened, particularly in the School here. The School expanded its forest land program. I had a part in that which has proven to be very productive.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Do you have any grandchildren?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, we have six.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What do you want for them? Have you any aspirations for them? What do you see for them?

Paul M. Dunn: A good life for each and every one of them, and that will come. It is coming. Our two sons have done very well and are in positions to carry on. Mrs. Dunn and I are pleased to be able to help them and their families to provide that good life.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Last time I didn't ask where and how you met your wife. Did you meet her in Iowa?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, we are both from the same town, Le Mars, Iowa. I was introduced to Neva Kissinger by a mutual friend when I returned home for a short visit following completion of my program of Forestry at Iowa State University. We had several dates, later became engaged, and subsequently we were married in 1926.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: You were at Utah State University before you came here. What had you known about the School of Forestry at OSC before you came?

Paul M. Dunn: During my period of eleven years on the staff of Utah State, I became acquainted with the programs of the other forestry schools, particularly those in the Northwest. I had heard about the program at OSU, and on one occasion I visited the campus.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What was that occasion?

Paul M. Dunn: I believe that was following a Forestry meeting in Portland, and I took the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Corvallis visiting the University and the School of Forestry, and getting acquainted with some of the professors.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How was it that you would get together with people from the School?

Paul M. Dunn: Most of the foresters are members of the Professional Society of the American Forestry Association. The meeting in Portland was an annual meeting of this society in the mid-1930's.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: I read that when the Board of Higher Education was looking for a new dean in 1942, they wanted someone that had strong leadership and could develop a strong relationship with the forestry industry. What qualifications did you have that fulfilled this?

Paul M. Dunn: I'm not sure other than the fact that I had been Dean at the Utah State University School of Forestry, and evidently they must have felt that I qualified. I was one of the people they were considering. Following the retirement of Dr. Peavy, who was President of the University and also had held the position of Dean, the institution was seeking a new Dean of Forestry.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: When you came here in 1942, what were some of the problems that you had to deal with?

Paul M. Dunn: The School enrollment was at a very low ebb as a result of World War II, and the number of staff members had been decreased as a result of the decrease in enrollment. The spring before, several of the staff members had been granted leave of absence, so one of the problems was to carry on with a reduced faculty and a limited number of students. I wouldn't call it a problem, but I found it necessary to get acquainted with the School's program, the staff members, and with people out in the State that normally were associated with the School - the industry people and other citizens. Also the Dean of the School of Forestry at Oregon State is

Paul M. Dunn: automatically a member of the State Board of Forestry, and so I needed to attend those meetings.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How did you go about introducing yourself and getting acquainted with the industry and the public?

Paul M. Dunn: That was done rather systematically. President Strand joined the faculty of Oregon State within a month of the time that I did, so we were both new. He and I discussed the idea of getting acquainted with the people out in the state - the industry leaders and leaders in business in Portland and in other cities. So we carried out a program of visiting several communities and meeting with individuals both in the forest industry and other business activities over a period of several months.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: So the president of the School was also interested in the direction of forestry?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes. He was also interested in the direction of other phases of the University, so he had that interest as well as getting acquainted with the forestry programs.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What would you do when you would go out to a community or to an industry?

Paul M. Dunn: We would arrange for a luncheon or a dinner meeting and several people were invited. During the course of the meeting, whether it was a luncheon or a dinner, there would be conversvation in respect to the University's program, and specifically the School of Forestry program. It was a mutually advantageous type of meeting in which those people got acquainted with us, and we got acquainted with them.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What was the purpose other than publicizing who you and the School of Forestry were?

Paul M. Dunn: The topics generally discussed were related to the curriculum programs of the School of Forestry. Other phases of the University and the possibilities for research. At that time the School, or rather the State of Oregon, through the School, was carrying on a program in Forest Products Research. There was a small staff that was active, so a good bit of the discussion related to the types of research that might be beneficial to the State of Oregon.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What was the response from the industries and the public foresters?

Paul M. Dunn: The responses were good. The people with whom we discussed these programs were interested in the topics of discussion and indicated their support.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Were there other professors that also went along on these trips or just you and Dr. Strand?

Paul M. Dunn: No. The purpose was primarily to get the two or us, the President and me, acquainted with several areas of the state and the citizens and industrial leaders in those areas, and to make our interest known to them and to elicit their comments - their reactions. It was just a getting acquainted program.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Was this done by the two deans who succeeded you?

Paul M. Dunn: I am sure that it was, to varied degrees. Because in the regular performance of the duties of any university staff member with any responsibility it would be wise to go out in the communities and get acquainted and keep acquainted with what is going on and to chat with the people and to explain what the programs are at the University. As I said, it's a normal function of an administrator of any program, both in forestry and any other field. This type of activity was one I carried out at Utah State, and it is the usual method to get acquainted and keep interested people acquainted with the program of any university administrator. Some administrators do more of it than others. I'm certain that Dr. Strand had carried on this type of program elsewhere. It's just good public relations.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: In 1942 you came to OSC and from what I understand, you came into a touchy situation here at the School. How did you resolve some of the conflicts between professors and departments?

Paul M. Dunn: Frankly, I think the less said about it the better. Time took care of a lot of differences of points of view in regard to administrative policies. My efforts were pointed towards formulating a program at Oregon State that would be supported not only by the staff, but by the forest industry and the citizens of the state. That took some time and was a basis of the efforts in getting acquainted with the people so that they could see what I looked like and what I had in mind, and what developments might be made for the best interests of the School and the State of Oregon.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Did you have some idea or direction of where you were leading the School? What were your plans for the School when you were Dean?

Paul M. Dunn: My plans were typical plans that any administrator might formulate thinking toward the progressive development of a good program and attempting to look into the future and see in what way we might continue furthering a progressive program in Forestry.

Paul M. Dunn: The first efforts were mostly along the line of anticipating the end of the war which was some years hence, and of course, the return of the former students and the new students who would be entering. It was fully realized that with the end of the war the whole University program would get a fresh start and be carried on not only in the way that it had been, but also in an expanded way.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Explain to me what you mean by that. Expanded in what ways?

Paul M. Dunn: Any school administrator anticipates that the program as outlined will grow, and that the student body will increase, and so ways must be taken to work toward that end, and formulate a schedule of various phases of the program that will cope with that anticipated expansion.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How did you go about recruiting students after the war?

Paul M. Dunn: Actually there was no need to recruit them, because when the war ended there was an influx of former students whose studies hadn't been interrupted by the war. Returning to OSU was what they had in mind when they left. They would serve during the war and then return to OSU. That took care of any need to recruit, and of course, there were other students who hadn't been on the campus who wanted to enroll. So there was no need for any recruitment program.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Would you say then the School of Forestry was in a state of suspension during those war years until the war ended and the influx of students came in?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, that's a good way to put it, because the university activities were not dormant, but in a state of suspension. As I stated, the activities of the staff and others were pointed toward getting ready for the return of the former students and the new students.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: After the war, you hired many professors. What traits were you looking for when you hired a new professor?

Paul M. Dunn: I realized that during this period of lessened activity in the School's program and the previous decrease in the number of people on the staff, it was necessary to rebuild. With the knowledge of the abilities of the staff at hand, there was a need to supplement with people who would round out the group. There was a need to hire staff people who could adapt themselves to fulfill the teaching requirements. I think the staff was doubled within a two-year period after the war.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Were most of these professors active during the war?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, some of the new staff members had served in the war. Others had not. I can't be specific without checking the rolls. Some were recruited from other institutions.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Other than increased enrollment of students after the war, what other effects did the war have on the field of forestry, and more specifically, the School of Forestry?

Paul M. Dunn: A major effect of the war, during the war period, was the diversion of interest in the School program, particularly in the field of Forest Products Research. The research interest was pointed towards developing different types of wood products and different uses of wood that might aid the war effort. Following the war, quite a bit of specialized interest was continued. And the research program here at Oregon State has expanded to a considerable degree.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Can you give me any example of research that you can remember?

Paul M. Dunn: One phase of the research program was pointed toward what we would call fuller utilization of the wood materials that are in the forest. Previously there was limited use of a considerable amount of slash in the timber area and also the residues at the saw mills. Efforts were made to utilize the slabs, sawdust, and other formerly unused portions of the trees. One of the research projects was pointed towards the use of charcoal from the wood saw mill by-products. Attempts were made to formulate the charcoal and then make it into briquettes which would be in a usable form for industry. That was reasonably successful. Another type of research was pointed toward the development of metho-alcohol from wood - the distillation of wood. That alcohol could be used in industry and be a substitute for other types of alcohol. This is somewhat similar to what is now going on in the energy program. A plant was built in Springfield and operated for a time pointing toward the making of alcohol from the distillation of wood. When the war ended, that project was dropped because there was no need for that substitute fuel anymore.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: The School was involved in that research?

Paul M. Dunn: Yes, the Forest Products Laboratory was a going part of the School's program. The time and efforts of the staff were pointed toward teaching activities and research activities. Some staff members were full time instructors and some were full time researchers, and some had divided time.