Raymond J. Penn was born in Morris, Minnesota on May 25, 1911. A 1932
graduate of the Wisconsin State Teachers College in River Falls, he received his Ph.D. in 1941 from the University of Wisconsin. During the intervening years (1935-1940) he was a member of the faculty of South Dakota State
College. He was also the regional research supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Land Management from 1940 to 1943 and from 1943 to 1946 was an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
In 1946 Penn joined the faculty of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Wisconsin; from 1948 to 1955 he served as chairman of the department. From 1951 to 1969 he was the University's representative on the Natural Resources Committee of the State Agencies. After playing an important role in its founding, he served as the first director of the University's Land Tenure Center from 1962 to 1965. Throughout his career, Penn served as a consultant to a variety of state, federal, and international agencies.
Penn had a strong interest in land use planning, rural zoning, and the public forest system. In the early 1960's he played a key role in strengthening and making permanent the county/state forestry partnership.
After his retirement in 1974 Penn remained active as an emeritus professor and he continued to write articles and papers until his death on May 6, 1982.
