Blenis, Henry Willard

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1983
HENRY WILLARD BLENIS
to be Doctor of Science

For three quarters of a century the University of New Brunswick has nurtured within its ample bosom a group of people dedicated to the study of our forests, and it is right and proper that as part of the commemoration of this anniversary two distinguished foresters are to be admitted today "for honour's sake" to the degree of Doctor of Science in this university.

For half of those seventy-five years the Maritime Forest Ranger School has worked in close association with UNB. It began in 1946 as an affiliate school and the relationship between the two institutions remained cordial after MFRS received its own charter. I am told that some UNB presidents made determined efforts to ascertain exactly how the forest ranger school worked. I am also told that wise presidents settled for the fact that it worked -- and enjoyed greater peace of mind.

That it has worked to such a remarkable fashion is to a great part due to the skill and dedication of Hank Blenis who came as a "temporary" director to a "temporary" school in "temporary" buildings in 1949. Now, 34 years later, the thatches atop the temporary buildings and the temporary director have both weathered a bit, but both are still very much in service. We have learned that the buildings are to be replaced; not so, the director. No one has worked more doggedly than he to advance the cause of the long-awaited "Forestry Complex" incorporating a Forest Ranger School equipped to meet the needs of the Province's and UNB's "Third Century."

Hank has told me of two of his major sources of satisfaction over the years. One is "the experience, with the help of dedicated staff and many people outside the school, of developing the forest technician echelon from concept to established reality," and, concurrently "the opportunity to work at the interface of academe and boots-on-the-ground applied forestry." It is in this crucial role of translating theory into practice that this inspired educator and scientist has made his greatest contribution to our forests.

Before the close of this year more than two thousand full-time graduates of the Maritime Forest Ranger School will be at work in these forests, and their sturdy commitment to their calling and the high calibre of their professional qualifications are a tribute to this man we honour today. What then is his outstanding achievement? The answer is as clear to all the world as it was in the case of Sir Christopher Wren -- Si monumentum requiris, circumspice -- If you seek a monument, look around!

Insignissime Praeses, amplissima Cancellaria, tota Universitas, praesento vobis Henricum Willard Blenis ut admittatur honoris causa ad gradum Doctoris in Scientia in hac Universitate.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 2