HARD-WORKING HODSON RETIRES JUNE 30 



"What You See is What You Get" 



h v Katie M o s h e r 



m Hodson arrived in North Carolina 

 in April 1973, with a fresh doctorate and a 

 reputation. 



"He came with the recommendation that 

 counts: He'll work," recalls B.J. Copeland, 

 then a researcher at North Carolina State 

 University who had just taken the helm of the 

 state's fledgling Sea Grant program. 



Hodson was willing to take a chance on 

 the new setting, "I told B.J.: If you offer me 

 the job, I'll take it," he says with a smile. Little 

 did he realize that his new research associate 

 position would grow into a career of service to 

 North Carolina 



As Hodson prepares to retire as North 

 Carolina Sea Grant Director on June 30, 

 his work ethic and no-nonsense personality 

 continue to draw praise and respect. 



"What you see is what you get. There is 

 no pretense," says Jim Murray, former North 

 Carolina Sea Grant extension director and 

 currently acting deputy director at the National 

 Sea Grant College Program. 



"You know where he stands on a decision 

 and the reason for it — even if you don't agree. 

 Then you can move on. You can trust him," 

 Murray says. 



Jimmy Johnson has worked with Hodson 

 on many levels — as a seafood processor, as chairman of the N.C. Marine 

 Fisheries Commission, and now a coordinator for the state's Coastal 

 Habitat Protection Plan. 



"When I was in the seafood processing industry, the industry knew 

 that Ron, and Sea Grant, was always there. If we had a need — some 

 research work we needed help on — we knew we could go to Sea Grant, 

 and something would happen," Johnson explains. 



Bob Hines, a veteran Sea Grant fisheries specialist, agrees. "Ron has a 

 great ability to identify issues where Sea Grant can be of service," he says. 



And Hodson not only is in tune with the people and issues of North 

 Carolina, but he also understands the coastal ecosystems. "In my mind, this 

 melding of science and an innate understanding or 'feeling' for the natural 

 world are a hallmark of Ron's personality," Hines adds. 

 "I swear, he can think like a fish!" 



Farmer's Instincts 



Growing up on a farm near Trotwood, Ohio, Hodson focused on 

 school and chores, but made time to read historical and Western novels, and 

 to explore outdoors. 



"Bon has a great ability to identify issues 

 where Sea Grant can be of service. 

 In my mind, this melding of science and an 

 innate understanding or feeling' for the natural 

 world are a hallmark of Ron 's personality. 

 I swear, he can think like a fish!" 

 — Bob Hines 



Voted "Most Athletic" in his senior class 

 of 1959, he went on to Wilmington College, 

 southeast of Dayton, to play basketball. 



After a ruptured Achilles tendon ended 

 his basketball days, he moved to Manchester 

 College in Indiana. He majored in physical 

 education and biology, with plans to teach. 

 "About my junior year, I decided I didn't want 

 to teach in high school," Hodson recalls. 



Zoology professor Emerson Niswander 

 encouraged him to go to graduate school. 

 "He was the first person — other than my 

 parents — to have shaped what I would do," 

 says Hodson, who headed to the 

 University of Arkansas to study with 

 ichthyologist Kirk Strawn. 



His master's thesis described 

 the first-year life history of large- 

 mouth bass in a new reservoir. He also 

 collected "thousands and thousands of 

 fish" from across Arkansas. "I knew all 

 the fish on sight — I had a good eye for 

 that," he says. 



"Getting a PhD seemed like a 

 natural thing to do," Hodson explains. 



He started doctoral work at the 

 University of Kansas, but soon headed to 

 Texas A&M University, where Strawn had 

 moved. "My farm background helped me be a natural in the field," Hodson 

 recalls. 



By 1972, Hodson was almost finished with his doctorate. A friend 

 offered him a job in Nicaragua to work with a fish company. Ron and his 

 wife, Ruthie, his high school sweetheart, quickly joined in the adventure. 



During a side trip to Costa Rica, a conversation with friends turned 

 to the Hodsons' long-held dream of adopting a child. The friend thought it 

 was such a good idea, she immediately called the national orphanage, and 

 offered some surprising news: A week-old boy needed a family. 



The Hodsons and their friend headed to San Jose the next morning. 

 After one long interview and a visit to the foster home, they started the 

 paperwork, including gathering reference letters from friends. 



"He was 15 days old when we picked him up," Ron Hodson recalls. 

 They named their son Todd. 



In late 1972, the family returned to the U.S. for Ron to finish his 

 dissertation — and prepare to enter the job market. One prospect was the 

 research job with Copeland at NC State. 



"When I thought of the East, I thought of Washington, D.C., and 



Continued 



20 Coastwatch I Early Summer 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



