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CORVALLIS - A leading forest policy analyst and a pioneering marine ecologist have been named "distinguished professors" by Oregon State University - the highest honor the university can bestow upon its faculty.

K. Norman Johnson, a professor of forest policy and management, and Bruce Menge, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, will be honored on Wednesday, June 8, at a reception on campus. Free and open to the public, it runs from 3-4 p.m. in Memorial Union 109.

Johnson is the principal architect and author of a dozen major reports on forest management and policy that have helped shape modern forestry legislation and management policies of state, federal and tribal forest lands in the United States. He has advised numerous governors, legislators and agency executives on forest policy issues, and has written or co-authored dozens of refereed and peer-reviewed articles and papers that have influenced colleagues around the world.

He led the multi-million dollar Coastal Landscape Assessment and Management Study, or CLAMS, that became a model for integrated natural resource planning throughout the U.S., and has secured nearly $4 million in grants and funding over the last 10 years alone.

An inspirational teacher, he often uses his connections to bring in federal agency administrators, timber company executives, and leaders of environmental organizations to meet with students.

Menge is co-principal investigator for OSU's leadership in the landmark PISCO study. Funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the "Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans" is a multi-university study of the near-shore dynamics of the Pacific Ocean off Oregon, Washington and California that began in 1999 with a $17.7 million grant.

He has written 90 peer-reviewed papers on ecology and evolutionary biology and in those categories, ranks among the top 0.5 percent in the world for papers most cited by other researchers.

During his 29 years at OSU, Menge has mentored 21 doctoral students, including 10 who now are on the faculties of other universities and five who direct museums or biological institutes. He also has supervised 13 post-doctoral students, and regularly teaches numerous undergraduate students. He has worked with more than 80 undergraduate research interns.

The recipients of OSU's "distinguished professor" awards will carry the title as long as they remain at the university.