large-frame J, white- 

 bearded Oklahoma native 

 with a down-home style, 

 Copeland has made his mark 

 from the halls of Congress 



to the fishing docks of 

 the North Carolina coast. 

 His message in all venues 

 is the same: 

 University research can 

 and should respond 

 to the needs and problems 

 of our coastal region 

 and its people. 



its staff of Sea Grant's merits and 

 payoffs and securing the program's 

 future despite presidential recommen- 

 dations for its elimination. 



"B.J. is one of several people who 

 deserve most of the credit for the 

 existence of the Sea Grant Program 

 today," Cato says. "His skills in 

 helping guide the national program 

 through a decade of zero budget 

 recommendations to the present when 

 Sea Grant is a recommended and 

 successful program is appreciated by 

 university administrators, scientists, 

 industry and citizen groups across the 

 nation." 



Unquestionably, Copeland is a 

 leader. 



He never hesitates to step forward 

 to volunteer his services, time and 

 expertise. He has been president of the 

 Sea Grant Association and director of 

 the Cooperative Institute of Fisheries 

 Oceanography and the Mid-Atlantic 

 Regional Marine Research Program. 

 He was a member of the N.C. Marine 



Fisheries Commission and the N.C. 

 Marine Science Council. He has 

 served on the N.C. Fisheries Morato- 

 rium Steering Committee and on the 

 board of directors of the National 

 Coastal Resources Research and 

 Development Institute. 



Copeland has been a member of 

 countless scientific review teams, 

 reviewed hundreds of research 

 proposals and served on more na- 

 tional, state and university committees 

 than he can remember. Because of his 

 leadership, vision and longevity, he 

 has been instrumental in developing 

 the National Sea Grant Program's 

 strategic plan for the 21st century. 



"By anyone's measure, the North 

 Carolina Sea Grant College Program 

 is among the upper echelon of this 

 national network," says Ron 

 Dearborn, director of the Alaska Sea 

 Grant Program and president-elect of 

 the Sea Grant Association. "Regard- 

 less of the talent embedded in the 

 faculty of the universities served by a 



Sea Grant program, I know of no 

 program in the network that has risen 

 to the upper echelon without top 

 quality leadership. 



"It is the demonstrated ability of 

 B.J. Copeland that makes him so 

 valuable to the Sea Grant network, 

 both on behalf of the association and 

 in building an important component 

 of the network in North Carolina." 



"I can think of no one with more 

 energy, vision, wisdom or leadership 

 capability than B.J. Copeland," says 

 Jim Murray, North Carolina Sea 

 Grant's Marine Advisory Service 

 director. "He has given more to Sea 

 Grant nationally and in North 

 Carolina than it can ever give back." 



Hodson agrees. 



"B.J. has clearly made the 

 North Carolina Sea Grant program 

 what it is today," Hodson says. 

 "No one could have done a better 

 job of building and sustaining this 

 program." □ 



14 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1996 



