Auburn alumni share how CFWE creates leaders
January 31, 2024
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The goal of any academic program is to prepare its students for their next steps and their future in a chosen field. Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE) produces exceptional alumni, including many who have gone on to become leaders in academia.
CFWE alumni Terrell “Red” Baker, Dale Greene, Bill Retzlaff and Hans Williams credit their time as Tigers with equipping them to pursue leadership roles in academia and to carry the CFWE’s core value of sustainable natural resources management to universities across the country. In fact, CFWE has a 75-year history of preparing natural resource professionals for both academic and industry roles.
"The college's mission is to create tomorrow’s professionals and thought leaders; develop new knowledge and science-based solutions to emerging and complex natural resource issues; and improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of citizens in Alabama and beyond.”
Emmett F. Thompson Dean Janaki R.R. Alavalapati
Auburn alumnus Terrell “Red” Baker, director of University of Florida’s School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences (FFGS), delivers a lecture.
Terrell “Red” Baker
Degree: Doctorate in forest biology, 1998
Current Position: Director of the School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences (FFGS), University of Florida; started April 2017
How does your Auburn experience inform your role as an academic leader now?
At Auburn, I was able to observe firsthand how different administrative approaches often yielded different results. I also learned the value of team building and the importance of assembling the best talent possible.
What was most memorable about your experience as an Auburn student?
Perhaps most memorable are the relationships I was privileged to build with respected faculty, staff, student colleagues and even administrators. I was afforded the opportunity to work with exceptionally fine people who were dedicated to Auburn’s land-grant mission.
Auburn alumnus Dale Greene (left), recent retired dean of University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, speaks with a UGA student.
Dale Greene
Degree: Doctorate in forestry, 1986
Current Position: Retired Dean of Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia; 2015-2024
How does your Auburn experience inform your role as an academic leader now?
One thing that has always hung in my home is a framed copy of the Auburn Creed. “I believe that this is a practical world and I can count only on what I earn. Therefore, I believe in work, hard work.” When I saw those first two sentences of the Auburn Creed, I knew I was on the right campus.
What was most memorable about your experience as an Auburn student?
I had a great major professor, Bob Lanford, who just made us a part of his family. Looking back, the research that he encouraged me to do simply launched my career, and I can never thank him enough for the perspectives he shared.
Auburn alumnus Bill Retzlaff is a distinguished research professor and interim vice chancellor for administration at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Bill Retzlaff
Degree: Bachelor’s degree in forest management, 1981; master’s degree in forestry, 1984
Current Position: Interim Vice Chancellor for Administration, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE); started October 2022
How does your Auburn experience inform your role as an academic leader now?
I employ leadership skills I gained as an Auburn student daily. My background in academics and administration provides a unique perspective to management of resources and personnel.
What was most memorable about your experience as an Auburn student?
What’s most memorable was the opportunity as an undergraduate and graduate student to conduct forest nursery research with other students, staff and faculty. This shaped my research career, which culminated in being named a Distinguished Research Professor, the highest academic rank at SIUE.
Auburn alumnus Hans Williams is dean and Rockwell Professor of Forestry at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Hans Williams
Degree: Doctorate in forestry, 1989
Current Position: Dean and Rockwell Professor of Forestry for the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University; started 2015
How does your Auburn experience inform your role as an academic leader now?
The uncompromising integrity of the forestry program leadership, faculty and staff at Auburn left an important impression on me that undoubtedly influenced my career. It contributed to how I try to accomplish my professional and personal endeavors every day.
What was most memorable about your experience as an Auburn student?
Of course, my greatest experience at Auburn was meeting my wife of 35 years. Academically, I learned from and worked with a fantastic group of forestry faculty, staff and graduate students, especially my advisor, David South.
CFWE Creates Leaders.
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