A Paul Smith’s College professor has been named as the institution’s first International Paper Endowed Professor in Forestry Economics. Dr. Brett McLeod, professor of Natural Resource Management and Policy and 2003 graduate of Paul Smith’s, was honored with the distinction last week during a ceremony at the college.

The $500,000 endowment from International Paper will allow McLeod to continue his work in natural resource economics for the remainder of his career at Paul Smith’s College and could also help attract world-class professors to fill the position when he retires.

McLeod began teaching at the college in 2005 and has served as the coach of its Woodsmen’s Team. He works regularly on forest-product research and  helped establish the Paul Smith’s Adirondack Rural Skills and Homesteading Festival as well as Osgood Farm on the shores of nearby Osgood Pond. In addition to teaching a variety of natural-resource economics and policy courses, McLeod is also a contributing writer to Northern Woodlands magazine and the author of The Woodland Homestead: How to Make Your Land More Productive and Live More Self-Sufficiently in the Woods.

Photo of Brett McLeod courtesy Paul Smith’s College.