Gopher Peavey 1986 - Department of Forest Resources - University ...

DEDICATION
Dr. Lawrence C. Merriam, Jr.
20 Years of Commitment
The 1986 Peavey is dedicated to a faculty member
who has clearly devoted himself to the welfare of his
students-Dr, Lawrence C. Merriam, Jr Professor
Merriam (Larry) has given consistent leadership and
enthusiasm for education and research in forest recreation
for more than 30 years-20 of those years at
the University of Minnesota, He will be retiring in
June of 1986, Professor Merriam provided the leadership
in establishing the Recreation Resources Management
(RRM) curriculum, the campus-wide Resource
and Community Development Program and
more recently, the Urban Forestry curriculum. He
served as the Coordinator of the RRM curriculum until
last year and he contmues to coordinate the Urban
Forestry curriculum. More than for this leadership.
however. his students appreciate and remember him
as a consistently challenging teacher and a faculty
member who was genuinely concerned about
students and their opportunities.
Dr Merriam was born in Oregon and obtained a
B.S. degree in forestry from the University of California
in 1948. Prior to this study he spent three years
(1943-1946) in the U.S, Navy, Subsequently, he worked
in the timber industry in Oregon and northern California.
Later he served as State Parks Planner and as
State Park and Highway Forester in Oregon. He
earned his M.F. degree from Oregon State University
in 1958 and a Ph.D. in Forest Management from the
same institution in 1963, Dr. Merriam then served as
a faculty member at the University of Montana. He
came to the University of Minnesota as a Professor in
1966 and has been a very active faculty member
since the day he arrived. He is a recognized spokesman
for recreational land use on questions of land
management and policy at state and national levels.
Also, he coauthored two editions of the popular text
Recreational Use of Wildlands. In addition he developed
and regularly taught Management of Recreational
Lands, Forest Recreation Planning and Recreation
Land Policy. Especially significant have been
his efforts to bring a strong historical perspective to
his students. He has exhibited an untiring commitment
to the welfare of students and their education.
The open door policy he maintained further emphasized
to students that they were important to him
We owe Professor Larry Merriam our deep gratitude
for these years of dedication, the many contributions
he has made to academic excellence in our
programs, and not least of all for the example he set
for others, We wish Larry and his wife Kathie a long,
productive and happy retirement period. They plan
to live in Corvallis. Oregon, and will be missed for the
personal and professional stimulation they so often
provided.