Below is a list of CFWE Graduate Student Awards and Fellowships, with information about the person, family, or institution that has made the funding possible. Complete information and eligibility will be available along with the application through AUSOM.
African Safari Club Graduate Student Award
Robert Lewis Adams Graduate Fellowship Fund
Recognizing the interest of Robert Lewis Adams in hardwood timber technology and wishing to advance knowledge and research in this field, Capital Veneer Works, Inc., established the Robert Lewis Adams Graduate Fellowship Fund. This fund will be used to provide graduate fellowships in the management or utilization of hardwood timber.
W. Walter Beshears, Jr., and Rebecca P. Beshears Endowed Graduate Award in Wildlife Sciences
This scholarship was established in memory of Mr. And Mrs. Beshears by family and friends. William Walter Beshears, Jr., known as Walt by his friends and colleagues, was born in 1921 and grew up in a rural environment. He served proudly in World War II and returned to attend Alabama Polytechnic Institute, where he earned BS and MS degrees in wildlife biology. Soon after graduating, he began his professional career as a wildlife biologist with the Alabama Game and Fish Division. Walt’s specialty was waterfowl, and his work in that area had an impact not only in Alabama, but also regionally and nationally. Walt helped form the fundamental principles that became the foundation for the State Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Agency. In addition to his professional life, Walt was a skilled turkey hunter, an excellent trapper, and an outstanding gardener who regularly grew more than his family needed just to share with friends and others who needed it. Walt enjoyed sharing his wealth of knowledge about natural resources, and by doing so helped the next generation of wildlife biologists be prepared to manage our state’s wildlife resources.
Drummond Company Endowed Fellowship in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
The Drummond Company Graduate Fellowship is in recognition of the contributions made by the Drummond Company, a major forest landowner in Alabama, in promoting the future of forest resources through research.
The Chuck Sharp/Ducks Unlimited Annual Fund for Excellence
The Chuck Sharp/Ducks Unlimited Annual Fund for Excellence will recognize, through a scholarship, a graduate or undergraduate student whose studies focus on waterfowl or wetland ecology management. Chuck Sharp was a 1981 wildlife sciences graduate. He served as a wildlife biologist with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for more than 29 years. He worked closely with Ducks Unlimited and other partners to accomplish goals and objectives of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. “Chuck was priceless among wildlife professionals. He was extremely dependable and steady, and his presence in any setting always instilled a great degree of comfort and confidence. Chuck had a can-do attitude and common-sense approach to everything,” stated Jerry Holden, Ducks Unlimited director of conservation programs.
James Henderson Dukes Memorial Endowment for Fellowships in Forestry
This memorial endowment is established by the family of the late James Henderson Dukes, Jr., for the purpose of providing a fellowship to a graduate student in the College of Forestry pursuing a degree program related to the biological sciences. Jimmy Dukes was born in 1958 and graduated from the School of Forestry in 1981 with both undergraduate and master’s degrees in forestry management. Jimmy’s major professor, Dean Gjerstad said, “Jimmy was an achiever. He was an exceptional student who excelled in Auburn University’s Honors Program. Jimmy was on the Dean’s List eight quarters and graduated with an undergraduate grade-point average of 3.9 and a graduate grade-point average of 4.0.” Following graduation, Jimmy attended Oregon State to work on a doctoral degree. Jimmy’s life was taken due to an automobile accident while driving one of the antique cars that he loved.
James Floyd Goggans Endowed Fellowship in Forest Biology
The James Floyd Goggans Graduate Fellowship was established to honor the memory of James Floyd Goggans by his wife, Mrs. Mallette P. Goggans, in 1984. To be eligible, a student must be a graduate student in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment and must be conducting research in forest biology.
KyKenKee Fellowship
KyKenKee, Inc. is a family-owned business located in the heart of Alabama. This award was created in 2011 to recognize an outstanding graduate student working in the area of hardwood research. By providing support for graduate education, KyKenKee is ensuring success for our next generation of forestry professionals.
The George Crenshaw Moore Endowed Fund for Graduate Fellowship in Wildlife Game Management
The George Crenshaw Moore Graduate Fellowship was created in 1995 by Paul and Judy Leonard to honor her dad, George C. Moore. It has been added to by others including his other children, Helen Camp, Becky McGee, and Richard Moore. As a sophomore at Auburn, he worked for the AL Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit and was soon well known for his work with the mourning dove. He graduated from Auburn in 1938, and went immediately into the graduate program. After receiving his Master’s degree in Wildlife Management in 1940, he was hired as assistant director of that unit. He went to Montgomery to work as chief biologist of the AL Department of Conservation, Game and Fish Division. In 1945, he left there and went into the Navy. He served as a medical pest control officer at a medical hospital in Guam. Returning to the U.S., he went to work for the U.S. Wildlife Service out of Atlanta. He also served as Chief of Fish and Game Director in GA and Fish and LA and then as Director in Kansas. He semi-retired and spent those days writing a book on deer management and going to schools to teach children about conservation, wildlife, and ecology. The fellowship honors Moore whose lifelong career in game management recognized the need for continued research in the management of Alabama’s game species.
Harry Murphy Dean’s Enhancement Fund for Excellence in the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
This award was created by Harry Murphy through a gift from his estate. Murphy was a forestry graduate of Pennsylvania State University and a WWII veteran. When he took his first job as a forester with Tennessee Valley Authority in Sheffield, Ala., he never knew that would change the forestry consulting industry in the South. In 1952, Murphy partnered with John Bradley, who owned a small forestry consulting firm. With Murphy serving as vice president and John Bradley serving as president, the once small forestry consulting firm grew to be Resource Management Services. Today RMS has an international reputation as an outstanding forestry consulting firm and is one of the largest, if not the largest, such firms in the United States. Many of the leaders at RMS can trace their roots back to Auburn University’s forestry program. More than 40 foresters who have graduated from Auburn have worked at RMS.
Lyle C. Tom Endowed Graduate Award for a Graduate of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
The Lyle C. Tom Fellowship was created in 2005 to encourage graduate work in the field of forestry. Tom was born in Monroe, Mich. He received a bachelor of science in forest management in 1952 from the University of Michigan and a master of forestry in 1953. Tom served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a 1st Lieutenant from 1953-55. His professional forestry career began in 1956 with Bowater Paper Company, and he later retired from International Paper Company. Following his career with International Paper Company, he became a private forestry consultant and was a 50-year member of the Society of American Foresters. Tom was a registered forester in the states of Alabama and Mississippi, a member of the Alabama Forestry Association, and a past chairman of the Alabama Forestry Council.
Westervelt Fellowship
As the largest forest industry company headquartered in Alabama, Westervelt recognizes the critical role that our college plays in preparing students to manage forest and wildlife resources. The College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment is pleased to have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Westervelt for many years. Our strong relationship dates back to 1949 and has endured and flourished for more than 60 years. This partnership began when Westervelt, realizing the importance of investing in forestry education, developed the college’s first endowed scholarship. That scholarship, the Gulf States Paper Corporation Endowed Scholarship in Forestry, now carries a current market value of $320,000 and has been used throughout the years to educate dozens of forestry students.