Professor Emeritus Robert L. McElwee of Blacksburg passed away on Nov. 2, 2017, at the age of 90.

McElwee worked as an industry silviculturist for several years after earning his bachelor’s from West Virginia University. He then spent 14 years at North Carolina State University, where he completed his master’s and doctorate, serving as director of the Hardwood Research Program and associate director of Cooperative Programs. He joined Virginia Tech’s forestry faculty in 1971 after a short stint at the University of Maine. In addition to his teaching and research activities at Virginia Tech, he was a project leader for Virginia Cooperative Extension, focusing on educational and informational programming and outreach.

“Bob McElwee’s extensive contacts and well-deserved standing in the forest industry and the broader forest resources community made him an ideal leader for Extension programs at Virginia Tech,” said his colleague, Professor Harold Burkhart.

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