Richard Vlosky (’85), CINTRAFOR’s first graduate, shares how his experience at the CENTER impacted his career growth and professional success.

Richard Vlosky fondly recalls the gathering in 1984 in the courtyard outside Bloedel Hall on the University of Washington Seattle campus. The event was attended by Washington state dignitaries, University officials, industry representatives, professors, students and others. The occasion: a ribbon-cutting ceremony, celebrating CINTRAFOR’s beginning.

Vlosky had recently arrived in Seattle from Denver, enrolling in the MS program at the College of Forest Resources (now SEFS). He quickly earned the reputation of being a “forestry-economics-international trade person.” When his funds ran dry, his advisor, Gerard Schreuder, sent him to Thomas Waggener who helmed CINTRAFOR in its fledgling years. [Link: CINTRAFOR History under About] Waggener took him in, making him the Center’s Database Manager. A year later, in 1985, Vlosky graduated with a master’s degree from CINTRAFOR, becoming its first graduate.

Today, Vlosky is Director of the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center and Crosby Land and Resources Endowed Professor in Forest Sector Business Development at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. His research expertise spans domestic and international wood products marketing, mass timber adoption, environmental certification and marketing, value-added product opportunities, international forest sector-based economic development and more. But it was at CINTRAFOR that he found his research calling. He describes his experience at the Center as transformational.

Collecting and disseminating accurate information on local and international forest products trade by building a reliable database was central to CINTRAFOR’s mission. Vlosky’s job was to ideate data from tapes that CINTRAFOR was buying to understand Washington’s trade flows. The computers he worked with were archaic, but the job gave him skills that few possessed.

Vlosky strengthened his data management skills by taking courses in econometric modeling, forecasting with statistics and comparative analysis. It was Professor Rao in the Economics department who introduced him to Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program developed by Lotus Software that could perform calculations, manage data and create charts and graphs.

Besides the technical training, during his time at CINTRAFOR, Vlosky had the opportunity to develop deep relationships with faculty and collaborate on publications. He took part in fieldwork, traveling to remote places in Washington. He researched trade with Japan, South Korea and Indonesia and developed a desire to travel around the world. He learned to network with peers and colleagues in industry, academia and government. A particularly enriching experience was interacting with international peers and learning about cultural differences.

During his time at CINTRAFOR, Vlosky hardly fulfilled the familiar image of a graduate student, pulling all-nighters finishing term papers or fellowship applications. “I learned to be hyper-focused and how to prioritize my time,” he recalls. “With a young son, and another on the way, I was a great student and a better Dad. I treated my graduate education as an eight-hour job. I never did homework or studied on the weekends.”

The skills he learned at CINTRAFOR equipped him well for life post-graduation. When he took a Marketing and Planning Manager job at Plum Creek Timber Company, Seattle, thanks to his training, he was unstoppable. At this time, forecasting lumber prices was done through a practice called consensus. Vlosky proffered forecasting with statistics. Skeptical but intrigued, the high-ups in the company branded him a ‘whippersnapper.’ But their attitude quickly changed when his forecast for export logs proved to be spot-on—again and again. Now h was hailed as “the guy.” The Vice-President of the company himself came to his office to pay his respects. A promotion followed soon after. Vlosky has had many proud achievements in his storied career such as receiving the Gottschalk Lifetime Achievement Award from the Forest Products, being Chair of the IUFRO Forest Products Marketing Working Group for ten years and being Team Leader for the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Sustainable Forest Products for ten years. No less important than these, he says, is to have had a significant influence on the growth and development of his two sons and his grandchildren. He has remained involved with CINTRAFOR and SEFS, by being a Board member for CORRIM. Recently, he gave a talk for CINTRAFOR students.

Guest Lecture: Dr. Richard Vlosky – Cross-Laminated Timber in the U.S. South: Changes in Sector Influence and Sawmill Engagement Over the Past Five Years | School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

“Treat your education as an eight-hour job. Go to the office whether you have classes or not. Study and do homework. Interact with peers in and beyond your program. Pay attention. Don’t waste your or your professors’ time. Someone is paying for your education. Don’t squander the opportunity most people do not have.”

When asked about his advice to current students, Vlosky says, “Treat your education as an eight-hour job. Go to the office whether you have classes or not. Study and do homework. Interact with peers in and beyond your program. Pay attention. Don’t waste your or your professors’ time. Someone is paying for your education. Don’t squander the opportunity most people do not have.”

“My time at CINTRAFOR was extremely rewarding,” Vlosky says. “There was only collaboration, no competition. It was chill, as my grandchildren would say. It set me on the path to where I am today. Forty years later, I continue to use and improve the skills I learned as a part of the CINTRAFOR Team.”