The Pennsylvania/New York forestry community created the Sandy Cochran Memorial Fund to honor Roe S. "Sandy" Cochran.

Sandy served as the Penn State University forest resources extension specialist based in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, for 25 years. During that time, he spearheaded numerous initiatives in the forestry community. He was instrumental in founding the Allegheny Hardwood Silviculture Training Sessions, Kane Area Logging Safety Council and its annual Safety Field Day Competitions, the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group (AHUG), a twelve-county hardwoods industrial promotion and economic development group, the Ben Roach Forum, a forestry lecture series (now the Roach-Bauer Forum), the Deer and Forest Regeneration Subcommittee of the Society of American Foresters, and a series of annual insect and disease briefings for foresters.

He was active in numerous professional organizations, including the Society of American Foresters and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association. He served as Chairman of the Northern Hardwoods Chapter of the Society of American Foresters, and as cochairman of the joint Plateau and Northern Hardwoods Chapter Deer and Forest Regeneration Subcommittee. He was a director of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association (PFA), and member of the PFA's Industry and Logging and Sawmilling Safety Committees.

Sandy's contributions cannot, however, be captured in lists of activities and offices. A local newspaper came close when they wrote that Sandy "could see the big picture" and that "(w)hile Cochran's vision has been important to the industry perhaps equally important has been his compassion for its people." It was Sandy Cochran who pushed for a conference on economic development and wood products. This conference led to the hardwoods initiative, a Pennsylvania blueprint for making better use of the state's timber resources, and led to the formation of AHUG, which has become a model for similar forest industry/economic development associations throughout the state. But for every story about a vision for forestry that Sandy had first, there's a story of an individual in the forestry community whom Sandy helped to find a job during a tough transition, or whom Sandy helped to get a start in a professional association, or whom Sandy called and cheered up at a critical moment. Sandy knew everyone in forestry, from agency heads to loggers, and all trusted Sandy to treat them with compassion, respect, and a shared concern for the land and its resources. He is sorely missed, even more than a decade later.

Roe S. "Sandy" Cochran received a BS in forestry from Michigan State University in 1950 and an MS in forest economics and business administration in June, 1958. He served in the US Army Corps of Engineers, including service in the Philippines during World War II. Prior to his appointment as Penn State Forest Resources Extension Specialist, he worked as a district supervisor of the Ohio Reclamation Association, and as an administrative staff assistant for Armstrong Forest Company. He was survived by a wife, Margaret, whom he married on November 29, 1958, a son, David, and a daughter, Susan.