Louis T. Benezet Award-2002 - Colorado College

Oscar H.Soule '62

Dr. Oscar H. Soule is an ecologist and biologist who taught in CC’s first team-taught, interdisciplinary block in 1976 while on leave from Evergreen. Last year he was honored for 30 years of service at Evergreen, a school recently selected as the best small, public, liberal arts college in the country. Oscar describes the innovative school in Washington as “a dream come true.” Chosen in 1971 as Evergreen’s first academic dean to come out of the faculty pool, Oscar later became the first director of Evergreen’s Graduate Program in Environmental Studies, the largest program of its kind in the country. He’s also served in many academic roles at Evergreen, as faculty athletic representative to the NCAA and as a member of its Foundation Board of Governors.

Outside of the classroom, Oscar is president of the Northwest Association for Environmental Studies. He is a private consultant in noise pollution and forensic ecology and was the senior ecologist on the 1990’s M-X missile project. Recently, Oscar became involved with the Woburn child leukemia cluster recounted in the book and film, “A Civil Action.” He’s maintained close relationships with some of the families involved and has lectured to civil procedure classes at law schools in Colorado and Washington on that topic and participated in workshops at Harvard University Law School.

For the past decade, he’s served as ecological interpreter for a commercial spring raft trip through Grand Canyon. He also travels with his environmental studies classes to China, Costa Rica, Galapagos, and the Volga Basin and Lake Biakal in Russia.

Active in the community, Oscar plays key roles on the State Jury Reform Commission, the Olympia Library board, The Olympian newspaper’s editorial board and the board of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. He spent several years defining the mission statement and various goals for the Olympia School District and the New Century High School, a Blue Ribbon winning alternative school in his area. He also served on the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board committee developing science standards for the new exam needed for high school graduation. When he retires, Oscar will most likely pursue his work that brings “school yard ecology” into primary and secondary curricula in Washington state.

Oscar, a strong supporter of CC, celebrated his 40th class reunion this year. His daughter, Sarah, is a 1996 CC graduate. His wife, Barbara, has become a dedicated friend of the school.