SFA’s Dr. I-Kuai Hung receives national award for forestry education

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Dr. I-Kuai Hung, Lacy H. Hunt Professor of geospatial sciences at Stephen F. Austin State University, was awarded the 2021 Carl Alwin Schenck Award from the Society of American Foresters during the virtual SAF National Convention held the first week of November.

The national award recognizes individuals who display a notable and sustained record of excellence in forestry education through outstanding service to the field and the development of dynamic, personal teaching methods.

“As my career developed, I discovered the most rewarding job I can possibly get — teaching,” Hung said. “Today, it is my students and my colleagues who keep me moving forward.”

Hung is one of four SFA forestry professors who have earned the prestigious award. Dr. David Kulhavy, Laurence C. Walker Distinguished Professor of forest entomology, received the award in 2010; Dr. Brian Oswald, Joe C. Denman Distinguished Professor of fire ecology, received the award in 2002; and Dr. Daniel Unger received the award in 2019.

“I would be surprised if there is another forestry program in the country that could ever claim to have four Schenck award winners on its active faculty,” said Dr. Hans Williams, dean of SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. “It’s hard to imagine a better recognition of the innovation and effectiveness of the teaching and learning provided by our faculty members.”

Carl Alwin Schenck, the award’s namesake, was a German-born and educated forester who founded the first forestry education program in the U.S. in 1898.