The importance of planning.

The most important lesson Edwin Eiswerth '77 learned as a forestry major and US Air Force cadet at Michigan Tech was the value of hard work. The experience he missed out on was applying his valuable skill set to community service. " When I went to Tech, I found Houghton had a volunteer fire department, but they wouldn't let in any students, " he remembers. " That ticked me off. I knew there were good firefighters in the student body. " Firefighting is in Eiswerth's blood. A retired air force lieutenant colonel and now fire chief of Peachtree City (Georgia) Fire/Rescue, he began to fight fires when he was a high school student in Pennsylvania and regretted giving that up in college. Years later, he joined the Michigan Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors, bringing his passion for student service back to the University—along with two decades of emergency management experience. " I look at it from a public safety point of view: you have seven thousand students there. Why not use them? " he says. He began by lending his expertise to the Department of Public Safety and Police Services, which was working to improve emergency services. " I really hit it off with Dan Bennett [Michigan Tech's director of public safety and police services], " Eiswerth says. " In the course of our discussion, he went hog wild with EMS. " One result has been Michigan Tech Emergency Medical Services, established in 2011. Thirty student volunteers certified as first responders provide first aid using a donated ambulance, which has been retrofitted as a mobile first aid station. " I'm trying to get students involved in the local community, helping the citizens—and the biggest citizen of all, Michigan Tech, " Eiswerth says. Edwin and his wife, Precy, also back these efforts financially. The Eiswerth family supports Public Safety, as well as the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. But they don't designate any specific projects for funding. " That's best left up to the bosses, " he says. He credits the University for his success and his ability to give back. " Tech started me off on my career, and I'm basically in the position I am now due to that. I don't even think about it, to be honest with you, " says Eiswerth. Michigan Tech EMS gives students a chance to volunteer in their community.