Dr. R. Scott Beasley, professor emeritus of forestry and former dean of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, was inducted into the Texas Forestry Hall of Fame at a reception held Monday, Nov. 7, at the Texas Forestry Museum in Lufkin. For more than 50 years, Beasley has dedicated his career to advancing the field of forestry and serving in numerous leadership roles within state and national organizations. Pictured, Beasley receives a token of recognition from Kendall Gay, director of the Texas Forestry Museum.
“Scott’s steadfast sense of values and his leadership as dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture influenced the professional development of many students and faculty members and enhanced the reputation of SFA,” said Dr. Hans Williams, interim dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.
Beasley received his Bachelor of Science in forestry at SFA in 1964. He earned a Master of Science and doctoral degree in forest hydrology from the University of Arizona at Tucson. After seven years with the U.S. Forest Service Forest Hydrology Laboratory in Oxford, Mississippi, he accepted a position at the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1976 and was appointed as the head of the university’s School of Forestry and Natural Resources in 1988.
In 1992, Beasley was named dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. During his tenure as dean, Beasley achieved a number of administrative accomplishments that include, but are not limited to, working through the Texas Coordinating Board of Higher Education to change the Doctor of Forestry to a Doctor of Philosophy; initiating a successful effort to officially designate SFA’s College of Forestry as the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and, later, the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture in honor of Arthur Temple’s contributions to forestry and economic development in Texas; developing state-of-the-art geographic information system laboratories for graduate research and undergraduate teaching; increasing the number and value of scholarships awarded annually to students; obtaining the university’s first patent, a cultivar of Camptotheca with enhanced properties for cancer treatment; and working with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the SFA Arboretum to establish the first Native Plants Center in Texas.
Additionally, Beasley serves as chair of the Texas Forestry Association, chair of the Texas Society of American Foresters, co-chair of the Society of American Foresters national convention and is on the task force for SAF forestry program accreditation. He was appointed a Fellow of the SAF and received the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s first Distinguished Alumni Award.
“I can think of no finer individual than Scott, who has contributed more to forestry and the professional and personal development of the people who serve forestry,” said Williams.
