AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Rajat Panwar for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Wood Science presented on June 5, 2008. Title: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Forest Products Industry: An Issues Management Approach . Abstract approved:______________________________________________________ Eric N. Hansen Business is a social institution and society has always designated a role for business which has been undergoing changes with changing societal values and paradigms. Thus while business has always had some responsibilities, the modern connotation of the words corporate social responsibility commonly refers to business assuming responsibilities in economic, social and environmental realms. Relevance and acceptance of this view regarding the role of business in society has been increasing and is especially important for sectors such as the forest products industry. However corporate social responsibility in the forest products industry is an under- investigated area, more so, in the US context. To fill this gap, this research investigates corporate social responsibility in the US forest products industry. This is done by first developing a general theoretical foundation about the concept of corporate social responsibility, followed by investigating students’ perceptions regarding the success of the US forest products industry in fulfilling its economic, social and environmental responsibilities. These students were drawn from four academic majors at Oregon State University and University of Montana and their perceptions were assessed on items covering economic, social and environmental responsibilities that were developed in Finland. The results suggest that students with different academic majors perceive the US forest products industry’s success in fulfilling its economic, social and environmental responsibilities differently. Differences in perceptions were also found