Fred Dickinson & his contributions to the Forest Products Laboratory: A Tribute

This web page honors Professor Dickinson for his many contributions to the Forest Products Laboratory and to his leadership in the profession of forestry and forest products. Professor Dickinson established the Forest Products Laboratory in 1955 and administered it until 1980.

Contributions to the Forest Products Library

Prof. Dickinson was instrumental in developing and maintaining a separate Forest Products Library located at the laboratory. He described it as a "unique and valuable resource for the Laboratory" in his history of the Forest Products Laboratory. He donated a number of books to that library from his personal collection, in the fields of chemistry, logging, lumber, and biodeterioration. Those books are now housed at the Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library as part of the Reserve Collection.

The majority of the materials that were formerly housed at the Forest Products Library are now available on the UC Berkeley Campus. Most have been incorporated into the collection at the Marian Koshland Bioscience and Natural Resources Library. The titles can be searched in OskiCat, the UC Berkeley Catalog, and Melvyl, the catalog of the University of California.

Selected bibliography of works by Fred Dickinson

Prof. Dickinson was the author of numerous articles as well as his highly regarded history of the laboratory: "University of California, Forest Products Laboratory: the first 25 years 1955-1980,"published in 1981.

The following is a selected list of his publications:

Books:

• Dickinson, Fred E
  University of California, Forest Products Laboratory : the first 25 years 1955-1980 / by Fred E. Dickinson Richmond, Calif. : The Laboratoy, 1981
• Dickinson, Fred E
  Wood Machining Seminar series at the University of California / by Fred E. Dickinson, Director Emeritus, University of ...
  [Berkeley, Calif.? : The Laboratory?, 1983?]

Articles:

• Churchill, JW, and Dickinson, FE. 1954. "The effect of time, temperature, and relative humidity on the relief of casehardening stresses." Michigan Wood Technology 1954; (2): 3.
• Dickinson F. E., Liese, W., and Thunell, B. 1975?. "Proceedings, IUFRO-5 meeting, 22 September-12 October 1973 Republic of South Africa." Vol. 1: Sessions. IUFRO-5 meeting ed. Vienna; Austria: International Union of Forestry Research Organizations.
• Dickinson, F. E. 1981. What factors limit the yield in machine operations in sawmills? Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff 39(4): 131-133.
• Dickinson, F. E. 1979. "Nonconventional bonding." California Agriculture 33(5):33-34.
• Dickinson, F. E. 1976. "Scientific and economic aspects of wood research as we look to the future of wood." Wood Science and Technology 10(2): 73-77.
• Dickinson, FE. 1967. "The Forest Products Laboratory of the University of California." Wood Science and Technology 1(1): 71-80.
• Dickinson, FE. 1967. "Recent developments in the production of lumber and veneer in the U.S.A." Holz-Roh und Werkstoff. 25(2): 68-75.
• Dickinson, FE. 1957. "The Forest Products Laboratory [,Richmond, Calif.]." California Forestry and Forest Products. (2): 4.
• Dickinson, FE. 1952. "Development of southern and western [United States] freight rates on lumber." Southern Lumberman. 185(2321): 229245
• Dickinson, FE. 1950. "The seasoning properties of Determa (Ocotea rubra Mez.)." Technical Report Yale School of Forestry (5): 8.
• Dickinson, FE, and Bruneau, GP. 1955. "A small, controlled temperature-humidity cabinet. " Michigain Wood Technology (6): 4.
• Dickinson, FE, and Prestemon, DR. 1965. "Tanoak log grades and lumber yield." California Forestry and Forest Products (45): 6.
• Dickinson, FE, Prestemon, DR, and Dost, WA. 1965. "Pacific Madrone log grades and lumber yield. " California Forestry and Forest Products (43): 5.
• Dost, WA, Dickinson, FE, and Prestemon, DR. 1966. "California White Oak log grades and lumber yield. " California Forestry and Forest Products. (45): 6.
• Muller, T., Collett, B. M., and Dickinson, F. E. 1973. "Suitability of Incense Cedar for the manufacture of plywood." California Forestry and Forest Products (48): 4.
• Prestemon, DR, Dickinson, FE, and Dost, WA. 1965. Chinkapin log grades and lumber yield." California Forestry and Forest Products (42): 5.
• Rice, WW, and Dickinson, FE. 1949. "The calibration of two types of moisture meters for several tropical woods." Technical Report Yale School of Forestry (2): 5.
• Smith, EM, and Dickinson, FE. 1950. "The calibration of two types of moisture meters for several tropical woods." Technical Report Yale School of Forestry. (3): 4.
• Szymani, R., and F. E. Dickinson. 1975. "Recent developments in wood machining processes: novel cutting techniques." Wood Science and Technology 9(2): 113-128.

More about Professor Dickinson

Fred Dickinson earned the B. S. degree in Forestry from the University of Minnesota in 1938 and, following graduation, worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps and the U.S. Forest Service in Minnesota. Upon earning the M.S. degree in Forest Products from Michigan State University in 1941, he spent a year as director of the Forestry Department of Lassen Junior College in California. Following World War II, he became an assistant professor and later associate professor of forest products at Yale University and completed the Ph.D. degree in forest products economics there in 1951. From 1952 to 1955 he was faculty member at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan. IN 1955 he was appointed professor of forestry in the School of Forestry at Berkeley and became the first directory of the U. C. Forest Products Laboratory formally located at the Richmond Field Station. The Forest Products Lab conducted research and outreach and focused its work on enhancing the use of environmentally sound practices in the production and use of forest products and improving the performance of wood and wood-based materials in service.

During his 25-year tenure as director, he built the Forest Products Laboratory into a renowned research institution. Until his retirement in 1980, he was active in forest-products research organization as well, administering the undergraduate wood-science and technology program, serving as graduate student advisor and teaching wood-utilization courses.

University of California In Memoriam: Professor Dickinson