In July 2008 we said goodbye to our vice chairman and friend, Strachan Donnelley. A philosopher and conservationist, Strachan explored vigorously the relationship between human beings and the natural world around them. In doing so he cultivated a life of humble, thoughtful stewardship we are privileged to have been a part of.

Strachan’s great gift to us was that he embodied what he believed—his deep love of the land was second only to his devotion to people: his family, his friends and colleagues, and all of us who live here and take part in, as he called it, the “orchestral causation” of life. He understood as few do the complexity of our interactions with each other and with the world around us. He spoke of our “democratic ecological citizenship”—that we are indelibly tied to the natural world, and that as such, we are responsible to care for it. He served on this foundation’s board for sixteen years, eleven of those as its chairman. In 2002 he founded The Center for Humans and Nature and served as its president up through the last few months of his life.

We remember Strachan with all fondness and deepest gratitude.