Phillip Oliver Foss (May 18, 1916 – October 14, 2001) an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

political scientist, was born in Maxbass,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

to Oliver Foss and Petra Elton Foss and died in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

. He was a decorated veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

; was employed in public service with the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

; helped establish the doctoral program in Environmental Politics and Policy at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

; published numerous scholarly books, research monographs, journal articles and chapters in anthologies; served as a consultant to government agencies, and received numerous awards and honors, including listings in both ''Who’s Who in America'' and ''Who’s Who in the World.''

Early life and education

Foss graduated from Medicine Lake High School in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

in 1933, received a teaching certificate from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

in 1936, and at age 19 began teaching grade school. He married Dorothy Marie Hansen in 1941 and they raised four children, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary in 2001. In 1947 he received a bachelor's degree in economics from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, completing his master's degree in 1953 and Ph.D. in political science at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in 1956. Foss joined the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

in 1942 and served in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during the Second World War (1942–46), and in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War (1951–53), retiring as lieutenant colonel. He received several awards and commendations, including the U.S. Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal and a

Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

. On the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, Foss received the

Korean War Service Medal The Korean War Service Medal (KWSM, ko, 6.25사변종군기장, ), also known as the Republic of Korea War Service Medal (ROKWSM), is a military award of South Korea which was first authorized in December 1950. History 6.25 Incident Participati ...

Academic career

Foss began his academic career as an instructor at the University of Oregon in (1955–57); was Assistant Professor (1957–61) and Associate Professor (1961–62) at

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

; Associate Professor (1962–64) and Professor (1964–1972) at

. He chaired the Department of Political Science at Colorado State University (1965–72) and its Natural Resources Center (1964–67), and was the driving force behind establishment of its doctoral program in Environmental Politics and Policy with Henry P. Caulfield, Jr. and Norman I. Wengert. Phillip Foss is perhaps best known for his early cases studies of the role of local grazing advisory committees established by the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934 in regulating the grazing of livestock on federal public lands. Foss found that such committees were often dominated by the same ranchers and cattlemen whose activities were supposed to be regulated. Foss often said it was probably the most frequently checked out (and most rapidly returned) university library book in the 1960s.

Honors and recognition

Foss was recipient of an Outstanding Dissertation Award (1957) from the American Society for Public Administration; and Outstanding Service Award from

(1960), a Distinguished Service Award from

(1970), was elected to the Executive Council of the Western Political Science Association (1967–69), served as its Vice President (1970–71) and President (1972–73), and was listed in both ''Who’s Who in America 1988-89'' and ''Who’s Who in the World 1990-91''.

Consultancies

Foss served as consultant on natural resources issues for the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

(1964–65, 1969) during preparation of the National Recreation Survey of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, and to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

(1969–70).''Who’s Who in America 1988-89'', 45th ed. Willamette, IL: Who’s Who, 1990, p. 1016.

Selected scholarly publications

*''The Grazing Fee Dilemma''. University, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1960. *''Politics and Grass''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1960. *''The Battle of Soldier Creek''. University, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1961. *''Reorganization and Reassignment in the California Highway Patrol''. University AL: University of Alabama, Press, 1962. *''Federal Agencies and Outdoor Recreation''. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1962. *''Education and Natural Resources''. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1964. * ''An Exploration of Components Affecting and Limiting Policymaking Options in Local Water Agencies'', with Duane W. Hill and Charles L Garrison. Fort Collins: Natural Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1968. *''Organizational Adaption to Changes in Public Objectives for Management of Cache La Poudre River System'', with Duane Hill and Roy L. Meek. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1969. *''Organization of Water Management for Agricultural Production in West Pakistan'', with Duane Hill. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1970. *''Politics and Policies: The Continuing Issues'', with Duane Hill. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1970. *''Public Land Policy''. Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, 1970. *''Outdoor Recreation''. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1971. *''Politics and Ecology''. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press, 1972. *"Policy Analysis and the Political Science Profession." ''Policy Studies Journal'', 2(Autumn): 67–71, 1973. *''Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Quality''. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1973. *''Environment and Colorado: A Handbook''. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1973. *''Institutional Arrangements for Effective Water Management in Colorado''. Fort Collins: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1978. *''Federal Lands Policy''. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987.

References

External links

Colorado State University, Department of Political Science, Graduate Programs—Environmental Politics and Policy

Accessed 1-28-09. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foss, Phillip 1916 births 2001 deaths American political scientists American conservationists Colorado State University faculty University of Oregon alumni University of Montana alumni University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni People from Bottineau County, North Dakota United States Air Force officers 20th-century American educators Public administration scholars University of Oregon faculty United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century political scientists