Friends of Dr. Roger Warren
The Dr. M. Roger Warren Endowment in Park Management was established in 1998 by students, faculty, and friends in honor of Dr. M. Roger Warren to recognize the significant contributions he has made to the Parks and Recreation community and the educational program at NC State.
Dr. Roger Warren spent most of his professional career as an educator. He retired in 1998 after 32 years as a professor and administrator in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Before that he spent nine years as a park manager at Tanglewood Park, Clemmons, NC.
His primary teaching, research and writing efforts have been in the field of outdoor recreation and park management. Roger is the co-author of four books and numerous articles in a variety of publications. Park and Recreation Maintenance Management is in its fourth edition (2007) having been originally published in 1977. For eleven years he served as the Director of the Revenue Sources Management School, one of the pioneer quality continuing education programs in America. In 1985 he joined with Fran Cannon to champion the merger of two existing professional honorary fraternities into Rho Phi Lambda, the single honorary that now represents the park and recreation profession. Dr. Warren received numerous teaching awards from NC State including being named an Alumni Distinguished Professor and was honored with the Garrett G. Eppley award from Indiana University.
Roger and his wife, Arameta were blessed with four children. Three of the four earned degrees from the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management. One daughter, Jan Parker, was the Director of Parks and Recreation in Craven County, NC; another daughter, Lynn, was a recreation supervisor for the Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. Two sons, Mike and Randy, also enjoy careers in the recreation management field.
Roger has been active in camping throughout his career. He and his family were avid campers, visiting most of the major National Parks in the US He successfully operated resident and day camps at Tanglewood Park, taught a camp administration class at NC State, and has served on many private and public camp boards, most recently as Chairman of the Laurel Ridge Board of Directors. Laurel Ridge is a Moravian Church camp and conference facility in western North Carolina. In 2009 he completed a history of that facility for their 50th-anniversary celebration.
His formal education began with a BS degree in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from Wake Forest University, an MS degree from West Virginia University, and a ReD degree from Indiana University. Striving for excellence has been a basic tenant of his career and is reflected in the fact that our department of PRTM was the first accredited program of its kind at any university in the United States. Roger served 10 years as the National Secretary of Rho Phi Lambda, an honorary fraternity for students in recreation and parks curricula. He is an avid tennis player and enjoys wildflower photography. Roger served as chief statistician for NC State football games for over 21 years. He was in charge of all statisticians and official statistics at football games at Carter-Finley Stadium. He is also an avid sports fan. He and Arameta attend all NC State football and men’s and women’s basketball games.
Roger is a strong advocate for land stewardship and is convinced that parks on all levels (national, state and local) are an important treasure we can leave for future generations.