TREE Fund Historical Highlights

• 1972 – O.J. Anderson and John Duling proposed the establishment of a tax-exempt “Memorial Research Trust Fund”.  A “Book of Remembrance” for memorial donations to research, was gifted to the International Shade Tree Conference (pre-cursor to ISA) by its then President and Mrs. O.J. Anderson.
  
  
• 1973 – Formation of the Arboriculture Research and Education Academy (AREA) as a special interest group among educators and researchers, both government and private.
  
  
• 1976 – Formal organization of the ISA Research Trust, founded by John Duling, Gene Himelick, Hyland Johns, Jack Rogers and Yvon Fournier as Trustees, all officers of ISA at that time.  Five research grants of $500 each were awarded that first year.
  
  
• 1980 – Beginning of the Chapter Fund-Raising Contest, which continues to the present time as the Chapter Challenge, as a highly successful revenue source for research and education grants.
  
  
• 1985 – The National Arborist Association (now Tree Care Industry Association) established the National Arborist Foundation (NAF), to fund projects benefiting the commercial arborist and to enhance the global environment. The main objective of the NAF was to fund scholarships in arboriculture and promote career opportunities in the field.
  
  
• 1986 – First proposal made for ‘Planned Giving’ bequests was published in the February issue of the Journal of Arboriculture, with a $10,000 gift, and others followed.  This was the beginning of a true endowment fund for research and education.
  
  
• 1990 – A proposal for collaboration in research and education, jointly between ISA Research Trust and NAF, was presented to the respective Executive Directors Bill Kruidenier and Bob Felix, for whom the Robert Felix Memorial Fund is named. The objective was to develop cooperative promotion and innovation in arboriculture through research and education, so we can all invest in our future.  This challenge was presented in the Journal of Arboriculture that year.
  
  
• 1991 – In the first 15 years, the Trust had awarded 162 grants, totaling $250,000.  Although that was a significant accomplishment, some felt that more could be done by our three billion dollar industry.  Other service industries averaged 1.2% for research that year and all industry provided 3.4% for research, compared to our one-half of one percent.
  
  
• 1992 – First Tour des Trees, a cycling fundraiser, still continues to provide revenue for research and education – as well as public awareness of proper tree care. Jim Clark and John Goodfellow proposed the idea, organized a group of riders and tree planting events, and rode over 1,000 miles from Seattle, WA to Oakland, CA with great success.
  
  
• 1995 – Trustees voted to name annual grants larger than $5,000, the “Hyland Johns Grant Program.”  Previously, Trustees had approved that grants made under $5,000 were to be designated “John Duling Awards,” in recognition of a large gift of life insurance from his estate.
  
  
• 2002 – Other large donations were received and later in that year, a merger of the ISA Research Trust and the NAF was officially completed.  “Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund” (TREE Fund) was the name for the newly-combined organization, which now includes the Robert Felix Memorial Fund.  This fund provides college scholarships and educational program grants in arboriculture and urban forestry, as well as promotes career opportunities.  News of this merger was welcomed as a big step forward for research and education, exemplifying the forward-thinking resolve of the original founders in the ISA and Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA).
  
  
• To date, the TREE Fund has awarded more than 400 research grants and 20 scholarships, totaling more than $6 million.  This is a very encouraging benchmark, an accomplishment of which our supporters can be proud. However, so much more needs to be done, considering the challenges facing the Green Industry such as, urbanization, global warming, professional development and public awareness of the importance of trees in our world today - and for the future.

Who founded the ISA Research Trust?

John Duling was always a strong advocate of research.  John owned and operated a tree company bearing his name, based in Muncie, Indiana. Along with O.J. Anderson, he proposed the establishment of the first tax-exempt Memorial Research Trust Fund in 1972.

Yvon Fournier of Trois Rivieres, Quebec, was founder and owner of a large tree company in Canada.  He served as ISA Vice President when the ISA Research Trust was formally incorporated in 1976. Yvon brought an international flavor to the organization.

Gene Himelick, Executive Director of the ISA at the time of the Trust’s establishment, was a well-known plant pathologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey.  Dr. Himelick authored many publications based on his research and co-founded the Arboriculture Research and Education Academy (AREA) in 1973, a professional affiliation of ISA.

Jack Rogers, President of ISA in 1975-1976, was another founding Trustee.  Jack was a well-known municipal arborist in California at the time of the Trust’s organization and was a respected resource for municipal arborists around the country.

Hyland Johns, then ISA President-Elect, was a Vice President and Board member of the Asplundh Tree Expert Co. in Pennsylvania.  His career and education in arboriculture began in 1943, prior to employment with Asplundh in 1950. He traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada, conducting training programs, both within and outside Asplundh, and doing research in utility vegetation management.

Who was Robert Felix?