Fraser, Rory
Rory Fraser
Dr. Rory Fraser’s 40-year academic journey spanned multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, the USA, Jamaica, and Guyana. He is a forestry professional who has significantly contributed to enhancing diversity in the forestry profession, holding key positions and leading major projects, including a notable National Science Foundation-sponsored initiative. Since 2000, Dr. Fraser has been a professor at Alabama A&M University’s Department of Plant and Soil Science. His impactful work extended to training minority landowners in land management and participating in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Leadership Program to address the changing economic landscape’s impact on agriculture in higher education.
“For students of color, it is particularly important for them to develop confidence in their ability to work in situations where they are in the minority and to be prepared to handle the challenges associated with race relations.” - Dr. Fraser, 2005
Schelhas, J., Hitchner, S., Johnson Gaither, C., Fraser, R., Jennings, V., & Diop, A. (2017). Engaging African American landowners in sustainable forest management. Journal of Forestry, 115(1), 26-33.
Christian, C. S., Fraser, R., & Diop, A. (2013). African-American land loss and sustainable forestry in the Southeast: An analysis of the issues, opportunities, and gaps. The Journal of Extension, 51(6), 3.
Gyawali, B. R., Fraser, R., Banerjee, B., & Bukenya, J. O. (2009). Income Convergence and Growth in Alabama: Evidence from Sub-county Level Data (No. 1369-2016-108612).
Fraser, R. F., Gyawali, B. R., & Schelhas, J. (2005). Blacks in space: Land tenure and well-being in Perry County, Alabama. Small-Scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy, 4, 21-33.
Morell, M., Fraser, R., & King, K. (2000). Forestry policies in the Caribbean: getting beyond the rhetoric. Journal of Eastern Caribbean Studies, 25(3), 1-20.
Dr. Rory Fraser was born in Guyana on September 5, 1953. He is the second of five children of George Fraser, a former diplomatic service employee and lawyer, and Bhanu Fraser, a former geography teacher. Growing up in Guyana influenced his decision to pursue an environmental career, as Dr. Fraser always lived close to nature. Growing up, Guyana was heavily forested, which helped Fraser develop an interest in forest resources at a young age.
As a high school student, Dr. Fraser worked for the Forest Commission in Guyana and later as a science teacher. His informal mentors included the Chief of the Forest Service in Guyana, who played an important role in arranging a scholarship for him to attend the University of New Brunswick in Canada at the age of 25.
As an undergraduate, he held several summer internships, including work with the Canadian Forest Service Laboratory, a sawmill project in Guyana, and a project at Virginia Tech working on improving the strength of materials. He graduated from college and worked as an Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer of a forestry company in Jamaica for three years. This experience gave him an extensive overview of the forest products industry – from tree plantings to marketing.
With encouragement from his Virginia Tech internship supervisor, he returned to school. He decided to pursue a master’s degree and a doctorate in Forestry Services from the Pennsylvania State University. Upon completing his coursework in 1991, he left Penn State to work as an international trade specialist at West Virginia University while finishing his dissertation.
After he completed his Ph.D. in 1993, the former Director of the Forest Economics Program at West Virginia University offered him a teaching position. His appointment came at a time when the Society of American Foresters (SAF) was pressuring the university to recruit more minorities to serve on the faculty and to attend the university. This recruitment focus caused escalating tensions during Dr. Fraser’s last two years in the department. Dr. Fraser often felt that some of his colleagues viewed him simply as a minority hire who lacked the merits of other faculty. At the low point in his career, he left this position after five years and seriously questioned whether he should return to academia. He felt quite disenchanted with the systems of preference and racism in the United States.
Despite his challenging work environment at West Virginia University, Dr. Fraser decided to continue in academia. He found another teaching position in 2000 at Alabama A&M University’s (AAMU) Department of Plant and Soil Science. Dr. Fraser found this position far more rewarding. One of the missions of Alabama A&M was to enhance the diversity of the forestry profession. When Dr. Fraser started at AAMU, the university was also in the process of obtaining the SAF accreditation.
From 2004 to 2005, Dr. Fraser was the Center for Forest Ecosystems Assessment Director, Interim Director of the Center for Forestry, and the USDA Center of Excellence in Forestry at AAMU.
In 2005, Dr. Fraser led the efforts to secure a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental National Science Foundation (NSF) CREST grand of five million dollars. Dr. Fraser was the Principal Investigator for that project and several others. He considers this grant one of his career highlights, which funded a significant environmental impact assessment study of Bankhead National Forest and an initiative to increase African Americans involvement in science and engineering.
He also worked on a project to train minority landowners about land management. Dr. Fraser was also part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Leadership Program, which assisted colleges and universities in adapting to the changing economy and its impacts on agriculture. He selected the President of Alabama A&M University to sponsor this initiative. Beginning in 2009, Dr. Fraser has collaborated with the University of Guyana on several projects.
Dr. Fraser was Faculty Senate President from 2009 to 2011. In this role, he advocated for the rights, issues, and interests of the AAMU faculty and served as a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees. In 2010, Dr. Fraser and his colleagues received a large grant from the National Science Foundation to support their research and increase the accessibility of biology studies to more students. The grant supported studying life sciences, bioengineering, and their ethical issues. Dr. Fraser’s work and dedication impacted AAMU’s Forestry, Ecology, and Wildlife Program, the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Agricultural, Life, and Natural Sciences. Dr. Fraser was known and respected for being an excellent scientist, team leader, visionary, and outspoken professional.
After a forty-year career in academia, Dr. Fraser retired in 2014.
Dr. Fraser had several mentors during his career. At Pennsylvania State University, his mentors included professor Dr. L. Yapa in the Geography Department, and lecturers and philosophers such as the late Ivan Illich in the Science, Technology, and Society Program broadened Dr. Fraser’s perspective of his field. He graduated with a better understanding of the impacts of environmental services on social welfare and economic development for developing countries.
Dr. Fraser used his vast knowledge and experience to develop new leaders. One of the reasons he has remained in the environmental field is his desire to give back to others, as many individuals have assisted him throughout his career. He enjoys his work and sees his role as encouraging cultural diversity in environmental management. He participated in the Cultural Diversity Working Group for the National Network of Forest Practitioners and the SAF’s Committee on Cultural Diversity. He has also mentored several current and former students and faculty. He believes every student entering his department should be guaranteed a job upon leaving. Dr. Fraser utilizes his professional networks with private industry and government agencies, such as the United States Forest Service and the Alabama Forest Commission, to connect students with employment opportunities.
He advises students interested in environmental careers to be fully committed to their work and to try new experiences. For students of color, he feels they must develop confidence in their ability to work in situations where they are in the minority and to be prepared to handle the challenges associated with race relations.
Alabama A&M University. (2008, February 27). Alabama A&M University Trustees. http://aamunews.blogspot.com/2008/02/
Alabama A&M University Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Spring 2015 Newsletter. March 16, 2015. “the leaflet”. https://issuu.com/aamubes/docs/the_leaflet_final
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.