In the Classroom and Outside, Kramer Commits to University Service

University Scholar/Teacher Award-winner aims to connect his research to real-world problems.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Making the world a better place begins with nudging people toward better decisions.

Randall Kramer, quiet but persistent, devotes himself to helping people make wise decisions, be they in the farms and fisheries of Africa and Indonesia or the classrooms and committee meetings on campus. After more than 15 years in the environmental sciences and policy division of the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Kramer is adept at both jogging across campus to chair an advisory meeting and jetting overseas to advise a global regulatory agency.

On Founders’ Day, Duke rewarded his commitment by bestowing on him the 2004 University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award.

"I was very gratified to receive the award," Kramer said. "I felt very fortunate to be recognized for having an impact on my students, my field and my university."

William Schlesinger, dean of the Nicholas School, nominated Kramer for the honor. Schlesinger heaps praise on Kramer for his willingness to teach extra courses, carry a heavy advising load and chair numerous important committees, in between international trips to advise the World Bank on environmental economics issues and involve his graduate students in his overseas research projects.

"A lot of people who did that much would always be telling you how much they did and how busy they were," Schlesinger said. "With Randy, there’s never any of that."

Schlesinger recently asked Kramer to lead a revision of the strategic plan for the Nicholas School.

"You give a lot of people the opportunity to do that, and they’d feather their own nest, make it good for them," Schlesinger said. "Randy would never do that, and everybody knows it. If he chairs something, it will be thoughtful and fair, and there’ll be no self-aggrandizement."

Kramer started his career as an economist, acquiring degrees at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State. His first job out of school -- working on the effect farmers had on the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay -- sparked his interest in how economics can be used to influence people to be kinder to the environment. He returned to school for a doctorate in agricultural economics at the University of California-Davis, then came to the Nicholas School as an associate professor in 1988.

He recognized his love of teaching after returning from Indonesia, where he’d spent the summer doing research in an area devastated by widespread deforestation and other environmental problems. He was feeling discouraged about the future of the world’s environmental resources when he returned to face a class of 95 new master’s students.

"I was immediately struck by their belief that they could make the world a better place," Kramer said. "It dawned on me that I constantly get my interest and energy about my field renewed by the passion that students feel for learning more about environmental processes and how to shape human behavior."

And students respond to his intense interest as well. He has twice been named the Nicholas School’s teacher of the year. He teaches survey research methods and different-level courses in environmental economics. In a new distance-education program called Duke Environmental Leadership program, he mixes face-to-face meetings with online technology to teach mid-career people who can’t take time out from their careers to pursue a master’s degree full-time.

Kramer brings graduate students with him to Indonesia to work on his ongoing research into the relationship between the environment and economic development. He conducts interviews, collects and analyzes data, and reports his findings to government and international organizations -- the World Bank among them -- responsible for natural resource management.

"Through that, we hope they will improve policies related to environmental management," he said. "I think I’ve had some effect, but it’s always hard to measure that."

Because of the direct connection between his research and solutions for real-world environmental problems, Kramer has been able to bring his real-world experience back to the classroom, and his students. He gleans particular satisfaction from seeing former students who stop by to visit five or 10 years after graduating.

"Often they move into leadership positions in a short period of time," he said. "It’s always exciting to talk with them about the initiatives they’re heading up or research they’re doing."

On the administrative side, Kramer has made time to chair a number of university committees, including serving a term on the executive committee, various search committees and a committee that reviews proposed and existing academic programs. He’s been active on the Academic Council for a number of years.

"I could go on and on about all the committees I’ve served on," he said. "It’s something that happens the longer you stay at an institution. Duke provides a particularly strong opportunity for faculty to have a voice in the governance of the university. It’s incumbent on us to take advantage of that."

By Nancy Oates