Three long-time members of the University of Vermont Rubenstein School Board of Advisors step down in 2016. The Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources would like to thank F. Peter Rose, Ross Whaley, and Sarah Bergman for their many years of advising and philanthropic support to the School.
F. Peter Rose (UVM ’54) of Tucson, Arizona joined the Rubenstein School Board of Advisors in 1996 and has been an exceptional contributor to the School and its students. A retired art and antiquities appraiser, Peter earned a Master’s degree in environmental studies from Bard College and began devoting his life to environmental affairs, especially to the conservation of sea turtles. An article in the New York Times on the then-named School of Natural Resources brought Peter back to the UVM campus where he began his long association with the School through then Dean Donald DeHayes and former Dean Lawrence Forcier. Peter provided a sizeable gift towards construction of the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory on the Lake Champlain waterfront. He founded the DeHayes Multicultural Scholarship Fund in 2006 in honor of Don DeHayes and to continue Don’s legacy of enhancing diversity in the School by attracting multicultural students. He also endowed the Chrysalis Graduate Fund in the School to support students pursuing graduate degrees particularly at the doctoral level. In 2014, Peter gave the initial seed money to explore the feasibility of the Economics of the Anthropocene Project Graduate Research and Training Partnership based at McGill University, York University, and UVM, and continued to support the project.
Ross Whaley of Tupper Lake, New York, is a professor emeritus and former president of the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He earned his PhD in natural resources economics and his Bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of Michigan and his Master’s degree in forest economics from Colorado State University. Ross is the former chair of the Adirondack Park Agency and past president of the Society of American Foresters. He served on the board of directors for The Nature Conservancy and the Pinchot Institute and chaired the New York State Governor’s Task Force on Forest Industry. As a founding member of the Rubenstein School Board of Advisors, for twenty years, Ross contributed thoughtful advice and wise insight to the School from his experiences as university teacher, researcher, administrator, consultant, and as one of the most respected environmental scientists of his time.
Sarah Bergman of Boston, Massachusetts grew up in southern Vermont. She joined the Rubenstein School Board of Advisors in early 2011. She is the assistant director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a national endangered species and habitat protection group. With a Bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Amherst College, Sarah served as paralegal and office manager for the nonprofit National Environmental Law Foundation and worked on Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and National Environmental Policy Act cases. Sarah contributed her experience in the nonprofit world and shared her expertise in environmental education and protection and in social justice as a member of the Rubenstein School Board of Advisors.
“We would like to thank Sarah Bergman, Peter Rose, and Ross Whaley for their more than forty-five collective years of service and valuable contributions to the Rubenstein School as highly respected members of our Board of Advisors,” says Dean Nancy Mathews. “Their support, advice, and engagement have greatly contributed to the ongoing success of our School, and we shall miss them as members of our Board.”