Retirement Years

Paul M. Dunn: That isn't an easy question. Opportunity is a major factor. Certain things happen, and if a person happens to be around at the right time and is able to take advantage of the opportunity, there's a reasonable chance of success. You have to have the opportunity, and then some ability to recognize the potential of certain situations and then carry on from there with the help of others.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Has religion helped you in your life through hard times and years?

Paul M. Dunn: No doubt about it, yes. I've been a church member since my early teens.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What church was that?

Paul M. Dunn: I was baptized a Baptist, but we're Presbyterians now.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: Are you still active in the policy decisions of the School of Forestry?

Paul M. Dunn: No.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What are your goals for the future?

Paul M. Dunn: I don't know if I have any particular goal. I have lived a satisfactory life, that's all. I haven't any goal to accomplish other than to continue my life with my wife, Neva.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: What have you done since you retired?

Paul M. Dunn: I am a consultant with St. Regis Paper Company with some responsibilities. I'm active in several forestry related organizations - Keep Oregon Green, the Western Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon (now the World Forestry Center), and the Society of American Foresters. I am a director of the American Forestry Association, a trustee of the OSU Foundation and the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation in Corvallis. I attend as many forest industry meetings in the region as possible.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: You sound very busy.

Paul M. Dunn: I do have one activity with the School of Forestry. I am chairman of the South Santiam Education and Research Advisory Committee that handles grant money for the benefit of the forestry students and faculty.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: I'm not familiar with that.

Paul M. Dunn: The program was actually initiated at Oregon State in 1955. The funds are from timber land interests of the Hill family - railroad people of St. Paul, Minnesota. The funds are in the Northwest Area Foundation now. I had a part in the preliminary aspects of getting it started. Mr. David Mason (who lives in Portland, Oregon) and I

Paul M. Dunn: discussed how there might be added benefits for the School and the Santiam communities. The Hill family owns a sizable tract of timber in the South Santiam area, and they started receiving income from that timber land in the late 1940's. Mr. Mason, who was a prominent forestry consultant and an advisor to the Hill family, suggested that maybe the time was right for them to accept a program that would funnel some of their income into forestry-related programs. So we put a program together. About that time I left for New York City, but he followed through on it, and the Hill family accepted it. It is a program whereby high school seniors of four communities in the South Santiam area - Lebanon, Sweet Home, Scio, and Central Linn - are given grants for college education and the OSU Forestry School receives grants for education and research.

Royal Jackson / Jennifer Lee: How many do you give?

Paul M. Dunn: You can't answer it quite that easily. Achievement awards are given to deserving high school seniors. They receive a plaque. Also, each year, fifteen seniors are given scholarships to continue their education. Over five hundred high school students have been given scholarships. Then another aspect was the offering of a conservation course to teachers and other citizens in the South Santiam area. Then grants were made for forestry scholarships and fellowships to OSU. At the present time two hundred twenty-nine undergraduate scholarships and one hundred sixty-four graduate fellowships have been given. There have been additional funds for a visiting professor program, and additional funds for the improvement of the forestry faculty and for travel grants. Overall, the number of people that have benefitted from this program, one way or another, totals about four thousand. The original grant was for a five-year period and it has been renewed five times. The total amount of money that has been given to the program is nearly a million dollars. The funding has been renewed for another five year period to carry it through to 1985. So, that is the South Santiam Education and Research Advisory Committee's program. The committee includes the Dean of the Forestry School, the Dean of Research at the University, and four alumni of the School of Forestry. The money is funneled through the Oregon State University Foundation. The executive secretary of the Foundation is also a member of the committee.