SAF National Awards Program: Carl Alwin Schenck Award Grant

The Carl Alwin Schenck Award, presented by the Society of American Foresters, honors exemplary contributions in forestry education. This prestigious award recognizes individuals with at least ten years of professional experience who demonstrate outstanding teaching abilities and commitment to forestry. Awardees receive a $500 honorarium, complimentary registration for the SAF national convention, and up to $500 for travel expenses. This award underlines the importance of effective education in advancing sustainable forestry practices.

Note: The award is by nomination. Nominations for the SAF National Awards will close on the date indicated above.
Through our 15 national awards (and Fellow and Presidential Field Forester awards), SAF celebrates and honors scientists, researchers, educators, innovators, leaders, communicators, field foresters, employers, local SAF units, and others that have made significant impact on forestry in the United States and internationally.
Forest Science and Technology Awards
Award in Forest ScienceBarrington Moore Memorial Award in Biological ScienceTechnology Transfer Award
Communications Awards
Outstanding Forestry Journalism AwardW. D. Hagenstein Communicator Award
Leadership Awards
Cultural and Community Engagement AwardEmployer Leadership AwardOutstanding Local Unit Achievement AwardStudent Leadership Award
Professional Development Awards
Carl Alwin Schenck AwardGifford Pinchot MedalHonorary MembershipJohn A. Beale Memorial AwardSir William Schlich Memorial AwardYoung Forester Leadership Award
This award recognizes outstanding performance in the field of forestry education. The award is presented at the SAF national convention and includes a honorarium of $500, complimentary convention registration, and up to $500 to cover travel expenses.
About Carl Alwin Schenck
The German-born and educated Carl Alwin Schenck was invited to the United States by George W. Vanderbilt to manage the Vanderbilt Forest Estate in North Carolina. Together with Bernhard E. Fernow and Gifford Pinchot, Schenck was one of the few academically trained foresters in the United States in the 1880's and was among the original fifteen active members of SAF. Schenck founded the first forestry education program in the United States at the Biltmore Forestry School in 1898. A confirmed generalist, Schenck taught all of the forestry subjects offered at Biltmore. Dean Emeritus Joseph S. Illick of the College of Forestry, State University of New York, and one of Schenck's forestry students, said of him: "Dr. Carl Alwin Schenck possessed that rare quality which characterizes the superior teacher who can make education remain after all that was learned has been forgotten."

Eligibility

Nominees must be an active faculty member at the time of the nomination in any SAF-accredited degree program and have a minimum of ten years of professional experience. Nominees must be members of SAF at the time of the close of the nomination period and cannot be current members of the National Committee on Professional Recognition.
Criteria
Nominees must demonstrate their abilities as an outstanding forestry educator, including attributes in the following areas:Devotion to the instruction of forestry.Demonstration of an active career that sets high professional and educational standards for students and demonstration of outstanding service to professional education.Development of personal teaching methods that are characterized by imparting competent knowledge through dynamic communication skills and by imaginative techniques, or by development of educational programs that utilize novel concepts in search of imparting sound forestry education to students.