For Stan Marshall, it's all academic.

This article is part of a continuing series focusing on the occupations, interests, hobbies, and outside activities of paper industry professionals.

Anyone who has ever tried to talk a teenager into something knows that it's a tough proposition. For Start Marshall, Jr., however, it has become more of a crusade. For more than 30 years, Marshall has devoted his energies to programs that encourage high school-age students to consider engineering--and the pulp and paper industry--when making career choices.

Marshall retired this past summer from his 25-year stint as executive director of the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation, where his most visible role had been recruiting students to attend the university and pursue paper industry careers. Retirement has not slowed Marshall down. "My associates have told me I would never retire. I used to doubt them, but not any more," he said. "I am chair or corporate officer of five non-profits at church and a related retreat and conference center, the local live theatre company, and for the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and its independent foundation. I have discovered every day is the weekend and there are no days off--which is a good thing, as I continue to have fun as a community volunteer."

Marshall's commitment to the industry and passion for education are legendary. "Stan is without question the most enthusiastic educator I have known," said Eldon Doody, president of Great Northern Paper Inc. in Millinocket, Maine, USA. "His devotion to education is contagious. It helps the University of Maine routinely attract excellent students, who go on to do well in the industry."

In the early 1970s, Marshall initiated the university's first co-op program for chemical engineering students. He also designed the summer "Consider Engineering" program for high school juniors interested in math and science--a program he has continued to develop over the past 30 years. The program simulates the experience of being a college engineering student using team and individual problem-solving activities.

"The experience offers an opportunity for excellent students to learn together with many successful outcomes," Marshall explained. "Students do projects demonstrating an engineering principle--such as energy conservation using a commercial heat exchanger, river flow modeling, or conservation of matter through paper recycling. A library 'scavenger hunt' gives students exposure to the largest library in northern New England as they search for facts they may not have known they could find."

The program also features an "Engineering Career Exploration" seminar offered as a free-standing, one-day program at 20 locations throughout Maine and the Northeast region. Over its 25-year history, more than 15,000 students have participated in the seminar. "A key topic for discussion is a comparison of the roles of engineers to the roles of technologists and scientists, as well as support staff, in skilled crafter and technician occupations," Marshall says. "Students define their personal values and hoped-for quality of work life as a means of generating questions to ask practicing engineers. Students in small groups take mill tours and have lunch with the engineer hosts before closing the program with a "Town Meeting' panel--the highlight of the day's activities."

Marshall has always been a strong advocate for our industry and the opportunities it offers. "Managers in tire paper industry, at all levels, are getting younger, which makes it a short wait to get higher salaries and greater responsibilities," he said. "In Maine the paper industry still offers the most high paying, challenging jobs near family for local students."

Marshall feels that professional organizations like PIMA and TAPPI can play a role in attracting students. "The sooner students meet people they like who work in the paper industry, and begin to develop an appreciation for what has already been achieved and what more can be done, the better. Giving students responsibility early, with challenges where they can make a difference and feel appreciated, will increase the industry's attractiveness, as well as retention.

"Mentoring at all levels makes a significant difference," he added. "Time spent in mentoring rewards both parties. Mentors gain respect by influencing another person's success and the young people benefit from a 'guiding hand' of a person who wants them to succeed."

PIMA honored Marshall with the 2001 Papermaker Magazine Vision 300 Award, which recognizes "the person who has done the most to raise the image of the paper industry and educate the public about the role of the paper industry in U.S. business and culture." In 1989 he was inducted as a TAPPI Fellow, one of the Association's highest honors.

Solutions! magazine is about people and the connections they make--both at work and "off the clock." If you know anyone in the pulp, paper, converting or allied industries with an unusual hobby or interest, we'd enjoy sharing that person's story with our readers.

Contact: Jan Bottiglieri at Solutions!, + 1 847 472-9067 or [e-mail].