Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 22, 2002|Volume 31, Number 12|Two-Week Issue

Dorothy McCluskey has been devoted to the cause of conservation for four decades. The fellowship she endowed brings leaders in that field to Yale.

Alumna endows fellowships
for visiting conservationists

Dorothy S. McCluskey, one of the first female students at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES), has made a gift to the school to permanently fund a fellowship she established six years ago.

Her gift endows the Dorothy S. McCluskey Visiting Fellowship, which supports senior managers and scientists from the non-profit environmental community who pursue academic studies or independent research for up to one year at F&ES.

"Dorothy has done a wonderful thing for the future of education at our school," said James Gustave Speth, dean of F&ES, in announcing the gift. "The students have benefited enormously from the McCluskey Fellows of the past, and now we are certain that these benefits will continue in the future. Hers is a wonderful, thoughtful gift."

According to McCluskey, "It is important for students studying forestry to have the opportunity to learn and understand the environmental work being done by nongovernmental organizations and the private sector. It is of great mutual benefit and results in broader professional education of students. It is a rewarding experience for me in every way."

This year's McCluskey Visiting Fellow for Conservation is Robert Stanton, the immediate past director of the National Park Service. Past fellows include Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya; Rachendra Pachauri of the Tata Energy Research Institute in New Delhi, India; Martin Rosen, co-founder and former president of the Trust for Public Lands; Randal O'Toole of the Thoreau Institute in Oregon; and Dennis McGrath of The Nature Conservancy.

A native of Middletown, Connecticut, McCluskey helped create the town of North Branford's conservation commission in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s produced a conservation plan for the town as a member of its planning and zoning board.

During her years at F&ES, she was one of only a few female students. Yale College had just become coeducational in 1969. McCluskey graduated in 1973 with an M.F.S. degree, concentrating on environmental planning and water resource management.

McCluskey served 1973-1974 as project manager of the Connecticut Inland Wetlands Project, a pilot project of the Ford Foundation. As part of that work, she co-authored the book "Evaluation of Inland Wetland and Watercourse Functions."

The F&ES alumna was a Connecticut state representative from 1975 to 1982, becoming the first Democrat elected to state office in North Branford in the 20th century. She represented the towns of Branford and Wallingford, and chaired the Environmental Subcommittee on Sale of Water Company Land. She campaigned on a platform that called for a moratorium on the proposed sale of watershed land owned by the New Haven Water Company so that a study could be undertaken to determine the impact of the sale on drinking water quality. Subsequently, instead of the land being sold, the private water utility was converted into a public regional water authority.

McCluskey was director of government relations for The Nature Conservancy's Connecticut chapter 1985-1990 and was a member of the New Shoreham (Rhode Island) Planning Board 1986-2001. She now lives year-round on Block Island with her husband, Don, who earned his undergraduate degree in 1942 and a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1959, both from Yale. Two of their three children are also Yale graduates: Peter, Yale College Class of 1978, and Martha, a 1988 graduate of the Law School.

The McCluskeys have been long-time supporters of Yale, particularly F&ES and the role it plays in global environmental education. "We all share a very small planet," Dorothy McCluskey said, "so we all also share responsibility for using it wisely before passing it on to future generations."

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Trustee launches book club for city youths

Gilliss reappointed as dean of the School of Nursing

Fossil named in honor of Yale scientist

Zedillo seeks to make globalization more 'inclusive'

Grant supports Divinity School's participation in . . .

Gift boosts collaboration in plant research

FORESTRY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCHOOL NEWS