Abrams has loved forests since his boyhood in upstate New York. “A forest was always an uncharted territory for me, a place full of mystery,” he says. As a leading expert on forest ecology, he has worked toward solving some of the mysteries of how forests grow, survive, and change, and he remains fascinated by what trees can tell us about the Earth’s environment as a whole.

In addition to the Steimer Professorship, the Steimers—who now reside in State College, Pa., but were former long-time residents of Tidioute, Pa.—have committed $1.1 million to Penn State’s School of Forest Resources for new facilities and scholarship support.

They targeted $1 million of the gift for the new Forest Resources Building that provides state-of-the-art facilities, and $100,000 to increase an endowed scholarship fund for undergraduate forestry students that they established in 1987.

John Steimer earned his bachelor’s degree in forestry from Penn State in 1949. He worked as a forester with the Pennsylvania Department of Highways before heading the Penn Glenn Oil Company and later founding Industrial Terminal Systems Inc. of New Kensington, Pa., a petroleum packaging firm. He retired as president in 1990.

Penn State named Steimer a Distinguished Alumnus in 1992, the highest honor it can bestow on its graduates. He serves as a member of the College of Agricultural Sciences’ volunteer fund-raising committee for the forthcoming university-wide capital campaign. In addition to these gifts and the Steimer Professorship, the couple have generously supported both the Bryce Jordan Center and the new Sarni Tennis Facility, which features a center court named for them.

—Jeff Mulhollem