Winter 2002

Gifts support Purdue Agriculture
By Steve Tally and Tom Campbell

Gilbert Roddy (from left), John Graham and Dennis LeMaster, head of Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, visit timberland in Oregon left to Purdue by Fred van Eck. Roddy and Graham represent the van Eck estate. (Department of Forestry and Natural Resources photo)

The Fred M. van Eck Forest Foundation for Purdue University was established to manage van Eck's California and Oregon timber properties, according to Myron Davis, director of development for Purdue Agriculture. "Income from the sale of timber could net the center between $300,000 and $500,000 a year initially and more as the timber grows to maturity," Davis says.

The remainder of the gift comes from the sale of the South Carolina and New Zealand properties. Dennis LeMaster, dclmstr@fnr.purdue.edu head of Purdue's Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, says using the California and Oregon properties for field studies by Purdue faculty and students is a very real possibility.

"Some thought it somewhat unusual for a man (van Eck) to take such an interest in walnut trees, considering he never actually grew one," Michler says.