Gower To Step Down As Head of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources

Dr. Tom Gower will step down as Head of NC State’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources effective June 30, 2020, to return to faculty and renew his research and teaching efforts within the department. Dr. Erin Sills will be appointed to serve as Interim Department Head effective July 1.

As Department Head, Tom oversaw the replacement of more than half of the department’s faculty and administered the development of new department, college and university programs. He hired 15+ new tenure track faculty and launched the NSF-funded faculty workload equity assessment activity to ensure equitable workload among all FER faculty.

He supervised the successful transition of the Environmental Sciences undergraduate program from DASA to the department. As a result, the program is now one of the top ten enrolled in majors at the university. He was also instrumental in bringing the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars program, which provides funds to support undergraduate students from underserved populations, to NC State. He helped design and implement the Environmental First Year program, initiated the cross-campus Environmental Science and Ecology graduate student recruiting event, and co-led the preparation of a joint B.S. and M.F. collaboration between Tuskegee University and NC State.

“It has been my pleasure to work with Tom over the past five years. He led the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources with focused dedication to the success and wellbeing of its students, staff and faculty. Please join me in thanking Tom for his more than five years of exceptional leadership and wishing him well in his new role as faculty in the department,” said Myron Floyd, Interim Dean of NC State’s College of Natural Resources.