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CORVALLIS - Nancy Lematta, the wife of Columbia Helicopters chairman and co-founder Wes Lematta, has made a gift of $1 million to create an endowed professorship in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University.

The Wes Lematta Professorship in Forest Engineering at OSU will enhance teaching and research in methods of safely and efficiently removing timber from forests while protecting water, soils, and other resources, and will help resolve other engineering challenges relating to forest management.

"I am delighted by this investment in the future of our students, programs, and faculty,"said Steve Tesch, head of the Department of Forest Engineering. "This gift helps ensure an excellent education for forest engineering students."

He said that in addition to teaching, the Wes Lematta Professor will work to develop science-based forest management techniques that meet the needs of industry, agencies, and small woodland owners while "minimizing the environmental footprint of logging." Tesch added that the professorship is "a fitting tribute to Wes Lematta, who is a strong proponent of the wise use of natural resources and a respected pioneer of aerial logging."

"Endowed chairs and professorships are keys to our ability to attract and retain top faculty in a very competitive job market," said Hal Salwasser, dean of the College of Forestry. "We will use the Lematta endowment to support the work of one of our outstanding faculty members." The appointment is expected to be made in early spring.

Wes Lematta, who co-founded Columbia Helicopters in 1957, engineered a logging technique known as direct visual operational control, which enables a pilot to lean safely out of the cockpit window and maneuver a hook at the end of a 200-foot cable suspended from the helicopter's fuselage. Using this method, a pilot can deliver up to 14 tons of logs from the forest floor to the landing zone and make a round trip about every three minutes.

Today, Columbia Helicopters, headquartered in Aurora, Ore., is the world's largest aerial logging operation.

Lematta was honored with the Pathfinder award by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1995, recognizing him for his groundbreaking accomplishments in flight. He is also the recipient of the Air Medal for the rescue of 15 men from a sinking ship in 1957.

With the creation of the Wes Lematta Professorship, the College of Forestry now has eight endowed faculty positions.

The college enrolls more than 360 undergraduates and 130 graduate students; it has four departments, an active Forestry Extension program, 14,000 acres of college forests, and is recognized as an international leader in forestry education and research. The Forest Engineering Department, established in 1913, offers the only four-year undergraduate degree in forest engineering in the United States that is accredited both in engineering and forestry.