Retiring does not mean slowing down

Confidence is key for Tom Hammett. Beyond learning about important aspects of forest products, international business, marketing, and sustainability, “the most important component is confidence.”

“The tools students pick up, the skills they learn — that’s about knowing how to use them with confidence. That’s really all I teach,” Hammett said. “Here’s the area, here are the tools. How do I help them gain confidence to ask questions, use those tools and reach reasonable answers?”  It is different than lecturing in the classroom — it is engaging the students in real life decisions and work.

After 30 years teaching undergraduates and graduate students, Hammett retired Sept. 1. He’s not slowing down: he plans to continue overseas service, teaching and outreach to businesses focused on renewable, sustainable non-timber forest products.

“The outreach that I do is critical, I think, because it brings what we learn here on campus to those people that need it. That’s important,” Hammett said.

Hammett was asked to reflect on his work and his career in academia.

How did you find your passion for international business?

I graduated from the University of New Hampshire in June 1974 and joined the Peace Corps that November. That’s what launched my career. I came home and worked in the forest products industry. While earning my master’s and Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, I also did extension and outreach work. I earned a master’s degree focused on forest products business, followed by a Ph.D. in forest economics, with an emphasis on forest product exports. After consulting to businesses and overseas development, I spent three years in Nepal helping start a new forestry college. I was recruited to Virginia Tech to teach forest products marketing. My international work shaped my specialty in global forestry.

What have been your central areas of research?

If somebody asks me what I do, I say I’m trying to make livelihoods, nutrition, trying to take benefits from the forest without screwing up the environment. My focused area is non-timber or specialty forest products, assessments, and economic development.

I did outreach and training, mostly with non-timber forest products, and conducted research with students in countries like Nepal, Nicaragua, and several across Africa. I also started several programs with new products here, including, hemp, bamboo, and wool—all sustainable biomaterials. Technically, these are not usually considered forest products but we built a SBIO program around them.

We led many projects focused on non-timber forest products—training people to conduct assessments and supporting economic development. We did extensive forestry-based development work in Bolivia. While the work is research-oriented, it’s ultimately about development. When I take students abroad, we integrate our projects into their experience.

I launched CNRE’s study abroad program and brought in other faculty to expand it. Now we have programs in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. I signed the contracts with providers and got faculty and students involved.

I’ve taken groups of instructors and graduate students all over the world, including Tanzania and Kenya. We try to engage students in small service projects—like picking up litter or cleaning a beach—that can be completed in a half day. In New Zealand, we weeded invasive species. In Nicaragua, we cleaned a beach.

How has your work outside the classroom been rewarding?

When I arrived, I worked both as a professor and in an associate dean-type role focused on international programs. I carried that international work throughout my career. For about 10 years, I traveled to Nepal a couple of times a year. In 2016, after Engineers Without Borders scaled back at Virginia Tech, three students approached me asking if I knew of any projects in Nepal. I found one during a trip and we created an organization—Service Without Borders (SWB)—in my office. It’s based here at Virginia Tech and has engaged over 150 students in experiential and service programs.

We’ve completed several trips involving different faculty, and started SWB projects in Tanzania, India, and locally in the New River Valley. This year, I took nine students—two of whom had been there twice before.

What major changes have you seen since you arrived at Virginia Tech?

I think in some cases, students have less personal contact with faculty than before. That’s been offset by the incredible services now offered through career services. If a student takes advantage of it, the resources are mind-boggling.

Students graduate not only well prepared, but many already have work experience. Career services really push students to pursue internships, especially paid ones. Every semester I send my students to have their résumés reviewed. It only takes 15 minutes, and they always come back with good feedback. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

What were the high points in your career at Virginia Tech?

When the light bulb comes on in a student—you can see the exact moment they get it. That’s incredibly rewarding. But probably the greatest moment is a year or two after graduation, when a student reaches out and says, “This is what I’m doing.” That’s what we really care about—that what we did helped them achieve that outcome. And it happens.

One moment that stuck with me: a student who went with me to New Zealand later returned to show his sister the same places I had shown him. He told me, “I had such a great experience, I wanted to show her.” That it meant so much to him really stuck with me.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be continuing some of my reach and doing some teaching, continuing some economic development work, and possibly serving on some committees. I work with many enterprises that use non-timber forest products and other renewable materials to develop products. I’ll keep supporting them with marketing and continue some of my overseas work.