College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

Arthur T. Wilcox Endowed Fund in Community and Urban Forestry

Inspired by his professor, John R. Daily is creating the Arthur T. Wilcox Endowed Fund in Community and Urban Forestry in memory of Arthur T. Wilcox. The fund will support student experiential learning. Professor Wilcox provided not only mentorship and education, but also a meaningful friendship to John over the years.

John knew very early on he wanted to study forestry, but when he began forestry classes at MSU in 1947, he did not take to them right away. It wasn’t until he discovered the Park Management and Municipal Forestry major and was introduced to professor Arthur Wilcox that things began to take shape.

John served in the Korean War, then returned to MSU to attend graduate school. Though the Park Management major had been moved from the Department of Forestry to the Land and Water Conservation Department, John was happy to see it remained under Art Wilcox’s direction.

In 1964, John was contacted by Dr. Wilcox with a job opportunity. He relayed that he would be leaving his role as the Director of the Akron Metro Park District in Ohio and suggested John apply to be his successor. John was selected to become the new director and credits his appointment to Dr. Wilcox’s strong recommendation. 

When John’s son began his studies at Colorado State University, John was delighted to learn he would be studying under Dr. Wilcox, his professor, mentor and friend. John wishes to create this endowed scholarship in memory of Dr. Wilcox to memorialize his teaching career and the impact he made on John and later, his son.

Declan and Zachary Gibbons Memorial Fund

Chris and Beth Gibbons established the Declan and Zachary Gibbons Memorial Fund to honor the memory of their two sons. The endowment will enhance and support Forestry student experiences not otherwise supported by traditional funding structures. This may include trips to conferences, leadership opportunities, field equipment and studies, retreats, Forestry Club, Conclave, and other opportunities that the chairperson feels deserving. Extracurricular activities had a significant impact on Chris during his time at MSU.

He and Beth want as many students as possible to have the opportunities that Chris had, but that their two sons will not. Chris and Beth have opened the endowment to public contributions, and those can be provided through the online giving portal at givingto.msu.edu/gift.