Dr. M. Roger Warren spent most of his professional career as an educator. He retired in 1998 after 31 years as a professor and administrator in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Before that he spent nine years as a park manager at Tanglewood Park, Clemmons, NC.
His primary teaching, research and writing efforts have been in the field of outdoor recreation and park management. Roger is the co-author of four books and numerous articles in a variety of publications. Park and Recreation Maintenance Management is in its fourth edition (2007) having been originally published in 1977. For eleven years he served as the Director of the Revenue Sources Management School, one of the pioneer quality continuing education programs in America. In 1985 he joined with Fran Cannon to champion the merger two existing professional honorary fraternities into Rho Phi Lambda, the single honorary that now represents the park and recreation profession. He served as the National Secretary of that organization until his retirement. He received numerous teaching awards from NCSU including being named an Alumni Distinguished Professor. He was honored with the Garrett G. Eppley award from Indiana University. Upon retirement, an Endowed Park Management Scholarship was established in his name.
Roger has been active in camping throughout his career. He and his family were avid campers,visiting most of the major National Parks in the U.S. He successfully operated resident and day camps at Tanglewood Park, taught a camp administration class at NCSU, and has served on many private and public camp boards, most recently as Chairman, of the Laurel Ridge Board of Directors. Laurel Ridge is a Moravian Church camp and conference facility in western North Carolina. He recently (2009) completed a history of that facility for their 50th anniversary celebration.
His formal education began with a BS degree in HPER from Wake Forest University, an MS degree from West Virginia University, and a ReD degree from Indiana University. Striving for excellence has been a basic tenant of his career and is reflected in the fact that North Carolina State University was the first accredited University in the United States, and in Rho Phi Lambda which he co-founded, is an organization that rewards high achievement among college students. He is a Charter Member of the Academy. He is a strong advocate for land stewardship and is convinced that parks on all levels (national, state and local) are a treasure as important as any that we can leave for future generations. [updated 12/09]