More About WS&E

Our MISSION is to advance science, engineering and business to help society use renewable wood and related materials and products in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner. We will enable Oregonians and the wood industry to be successful in a globally competitive environment through our teaching, research and outreach programs.

Our VISION is to be widely recognized as a leading center in the world for wood science and engineering education, research and outreach.

• Wood Science & Engineering is the new name for the former Department of Forest Products at OSU. We have been an integral part of the College of Forestry for over 60 years and have a long tradition of teaching, research, scholarship and outreach education. We are also part of the Oregon Forest Research Laboratory which is chartered and supported by the Oregon Legislature as a state-wide public service agency.
  
  
• We offer a BS in Wood Science and Technology with five different options to meet student needs and interests. Our students must complete a senior project and six months work experience. All of our graduates who have sought work in the field in the past 15 years have been employed.
  
  
• Our annual fiscal expenditures are about $3-4 million with most associated with our research program. Our faculty are very competitive with extramural competitive funding and we are one of 12 universities designated a Center for Wood Utilization Research through a grant from the US Congress.
  
  
• Our undergraduate population has increased significantly in recent years as students have learned about WS&T career opportunities. Our graduate student body is among the largest in the US with 30-40 Masters and PhD aspirants and includes scholars from many countries around the world. Many graduate students pursue a dual major with wood science and mechanical, civil, or chemical engineering, forest science, materials science and other fields.
  
  
• WS&E faculty include two positions that are fully endowed through gifts. The JELD-WEN Chair in Wood-based Composite Science is possible through a gift from the JELD-WEN Foundation of Klamath Falls, OR. The Richardson Chair in Wood Science and Forest Products is a result of the generosity of the Ward and Kay Richardson Family.
  
  
• Four WS&E faculty have been elected as Fellows of the International Academy of Wood Science, two faculty are Fellows of the Society of Wood Science and Technology, and one has been named a University Distinguished Professor.
  
  
• Our Extension and Outreach programs reach thousands of adult learners throughout the western US. We offer a suite of continuing education programs for industry personnel designed specifically to enhance their competitiveness. Each year, the Department offers Wood Magic for over 1400 3rd and 4th grade students in western Oregon.

Last updated: April 13, 2006