Jay Melvin Hughes, former Dean and Professor of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources at Colorado State University, from 1977 through 1991, passed away on March 2, after a short illness.
After leaving CSU he went on to pursue humanitarian assignments through ACDI/VOCA and Winrock International which included planning, evaluation, development and leadership of programs in Honduras, Bolivia, Panama, Nepal, Bhutan, Uganda, Sudan and Tajikistan. He was team leader of the forestry evaluation during a National Academy of Sciences review of natural resources programs in Nepal. He led the analysis of forestry research in Bhutan and prepared recommendations for program improvements and research staff training. He analyzed program needs and developed and implemented the plan for a new Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Biology at the Escuela Agricola Panamericana, the premier agricultural school of Latin America, at Zamorano, Honduras. He also served on its Board of Trustees for eight years. In Bolivia, over a period of nine years, he led the redesign of a new environmental research and technology transfer institute, developed research planning and proposal preparation guides, reviewed and recommended curriculum changes and assisted in strategic planning in agriculture and forestry at four universities and large agricultural research and technology transfer organizations. In Panama he assisted a private foundation to develop a strategic plan with a focus on establishing a new high school featuring agro-forestry; he worked with three non-profits in Uganda and with the Ministry of Agriculture of Western Bahr El Ghazal Province in Sudan to develop strategic plans for agricultural development and eco-tourism. He assisted water users association in Yangiobod, Tajikistan to develop a proposal for refurbishing a drinking water system.
Jay is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Mary Lou; and is lovingly remembered by his daughters, Anne McClester of Aurora and Laura Williams (Hank) of Loveland; his grandsons Heath Jay (Jesse) of Gillette, Wyoming, Hunter Williams of Loveland; his granddaughter Kimberly Dubensky (Christopher) of Streetsboro, Ohio; and his great granddaughter Emma Dubensky.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. April 11 at Parkview United Congregational Church, 12444 East Parkview Drive, Aurora.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to the Aurora History Museum or Parkview United Congregational Church.
