Dr. Eric Ellwood and Dr. Mary Kilburn
Dr. Eric Ellwood and his wife Dr. Mary B. Kilburn established the Eric L. Ellwood Endowed Scholarship in 1988 to provide scholarships for first-year students, transfer students or undergraduates in wood and paper science.
Dr. Ellwood joined NC State University in 1961 and became Dean of the College of Forest Resources just 10 years later in 1971; a position he held until his retirement in 1989. He was an advocate of strengthening cooperative relations among universities, industry and government agencies to better solve the problems and capitalize upon the opportunities inherent in forest resources. He also worked to increase the effectiveness of overall research and technology transfer relating to forest resources. This included the establishment of a Southern Forest Research Center at the School of Forest Resources, which has initiated a substantial broad-based research program cooperatively between several forest products industries and the university. He is greatly respected for his contributions to the paper industry and to education.
Born in 1922 in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Ellwood became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1967. He earned his baccalaureate and master’s degrees in forestry at the University of Melbourne and his doctorate at Yale, where he was a Sterling Fellow.
Dr. Ellwood began his career with the Victorian Forests Commission, then transferred to the Australian Forest Products Laboratory. In 1957, he accepted a position at the University of California Forest Products Laboratory at Berkeley and after four years, he began his 28-year career at NC State.
He is a recipient of a number of recognitions including a Fulbright Fellowship, the Forest Products Wood Award, a Fellow of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry, a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science, a Fellow of the Society of American Foresters, and the Governor’s Forestry Award. He has been active throughout his career in professional societies, and university and governmental assignments involving forest resources.
He has held office in a variety of societies a few of which are the first president of the National Association of Professional Forestry Schools and Colleges, chairman of the Appalachian Section of the Society of American Foresters, and director of the North Carolina Forestry Association.
Dr. Ellwood has undertaken a number of government assignments, both federal and state, including: membership in the U.S. Forestry delegation to Russia in 1973; chairman of the Ligno-cellulose panel of the Committee on Renewable Resources for Industrial Materials, established by the National Research Council in 1975; chairman of the North Carolina Governor’s Advisory Task Force on Small Woodlot Management, which established a state plan to substantially increase the management and productivity of the non-industrial privately owned forest lands in North Carolina.; participation in the Governor’s State Forestry Interagency Committee, which implements that plan; and advisor to the NC Forestry Council which advises the Department of Natural Resources and Community Development on forestry matters.