This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By Finding aid prepared by Chris Petersen.
Title: Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection, 2013-2017
ID: OH 026
Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Extent: 1810.0 gigabytes. More info below.
Arrangement: Interviews are arranged chronologically by date of interview.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection is the product of an initiative sponsored by the OSU Office of the Provost, University Marketing and Relations, OSU Libraries and Press (OSULP), the OSU Foundation, the OSU Alumni Office, and The Oregon Stater alumni magazine. The project, which was conducted from 2013 to 2017, sought to document the history, impact and ambitions of the university through the recollections of various alumni, faculty, staff, administrators, current students, and supporters affiliated with OSU. The project was one of many to be sponsored in anticipation of the university's sesquicentennial celebration, held in 2017 and 2018.
The collection is entirely born digital. Most interviews were captured using both video and audio recorders, and the resulting raw .mts video files (almost always multiple files per interview) and .wav audio files constitute the vast majority of the material described in this finding aid. These raw files are stored on the OSULP preservation server, as are lower-resolution derivative .mpg files that represent the full length of each interview video. In addition, .mp3 copies of each interview file have been generated from the raw files and are stored on the Special Collections & Archives Research Center (SCARC) file server for local access. Online copies of each interview video are likewise available in two locations: as lightly described video files accessible through OSU's MediaSpace media distribution platform and as contextualized websites presented on a dedicated project portal at http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/oh150/index.html.
Born digital materials gathered or created in preparation for each interview have been retained alongside their corresponding access .mp3 files on the SCARC file server. Paper permission forms signed by each interviewee have been scanned to .pdf and are also stored with a given interview's access files on the SCARC file server. The original paper forms have been retained and are held in the SCARC central files. The collection also includes 95 digital photographs of selected interviewees taken by Mike Dicianna in connection with several interviews that he led.
A total of 243 interviews were completed for the project, resulting in just over 350 hours of content. Project staff interviewed 111 Oregon State alumni representing every decade from the 1930s to the 2010s. Also included are 107 faculty members (both current and emeritus, and some of them also OSU alumni) from each of OSU's eleven colleges, as are faculty from the University Honors College, Graduate School, Linus Pauling Institute, University Motor Pool, University Libraries, and OSU Ecampus. Twenty OSU staff members were interviewed, and 10 sets of interviews were conducted with current OSU students, both undergraduates and graduates.
On the project web portal, 111 departments, academic majors, and thematic points of emphasis have been identified and tagged as subjects. Major topical strengths include athletics, entrepreneurship, Extension and Experiment Stations, environmental sustainability, international studies, journalism, military service, multiculturalism, oceanography, public service, and the advancement of women. Sessions devoted to the Hatfield Marine Science Center, OSU-Cascades, and Sea Grant, Space Grant, and Sun Grant at OSU are also included.
The vast majority of the interviews held in this collection were conducted by three people: SCARC faculty member Chris Petersen, SCARC graduate assistant Mike Dicianna, and contract oral historian Janice Dilg. The bulk of the collection's interviews were transcribed by two professional transcription services, and a smaller number of interviews were transcribed by SCARC staff and volunteers. All told, thirty-eight people contributed in some form to the creation, development and online representation of the project.
George Abed (b. 1938), a native of Jordan, attended Oregon State from 1958-1962, graduating with a bachelor's degree in General Social Science. Following graduate studies, Abed spent thirty years at the International Monetary Fund, concluding his tenure there as Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department. He has also served as Governor of the Palestine Monetary Authority and as Senior Counselor and Director for Africa and the Middle East at the Institute for International Finance.
Alan Acock (b. 1944) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Sciences who also chaired the HDFS department from its creation in 1990 until 2002. Acock's research has focused primarily on family dynamics and quantitative statistical analysis.
Kevin Ahern (b. 1954) is a Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at OSU as well as the university's Director of Undergraduate Research. A prolific science writer, Ahern has published books of limericks as well Metabolic Melodies, a series of biochemistry-related lyrics written to popular song melodies.
Sami Al-AbdRabbuh (b. 1987) is a Ph.D. student in Industrial Automation who completed an OSU master's degree in Industrial Engineering in 2015. Born in Arizona and raised in Saudi Arabia, Al-AbdRabbuh is a founder and CEO of Crispy Science, which develops interactive STEM programs for youths. He has also been active in civic affairs, including multiple positions within ASOSU and campaigning, as the Independent Party candidate, for the Oregon House in the 2016 election cycle.
Jo Alexander (b. 1944) served as Managing Editor of the OSU Press from 1984 until her retirement in 2013. Jeff Grass (b. 1948) preceded Alexander as Managing Editor from 1978-1984 before his promotion to the position of Director of the OSU Press, which he occupied from 1984 to his retirement in 2003.
Tom Allen (b. 1931) worked at OSU as a professor of Botany from 1962-1991, specializing in the study of plant viruses during that time. Allen is also an artist of local renown who co-founded the Oregon Watercolor Society and the Corvallis Arts Center, and managed the annual Art About Agriculture touring exhibit for many years.
Stacy Allison (b. 1958) attended OSU from 1976-1979, studying Home Economics. In 1979 she dropped out of college to pursue her love of mountain climbing and in 1988 she became the first American woman to successfully summit Mt. Everest.
Betty Lu Anderson (b. 1923) attended Oregon State College from 1941-1945. A Home Economics major, Anderson also served as editor of the Barometer at the conclusion of World War II.
Roy Arnold (b. 1946) earned a master's degree (1965) and a Ph.D. (1967) in Food Science from OSU. He is an emeritus Professor and Dean in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and also a former Provost and Executive Vice President of the university.
George Arscott (b. 1923), a 1949 OSC graduate in Poultry Husbandry, was a member of the Poultry Science faculty from 1953-1987, chairing the department for the final eighteen years of his career at OSU.
Tana Atchley (b. 1977), a Modoc, Paiute and Karuk member of the Klamath Tribes, is a 2005 graduate of the OSU master's degree program in College Student Services and Administration. Since 2013 she has worked as Tribal Workforce Development and Outreach Coordinator for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Ken Austin (b. 1931) graduated from Oregon State College in 1954 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. While an OSC undergraduate, Austin became the first Benny Beaver mascot, wearing a costume that he created himself to entertain fans at football and basketball games. Later in life, Austin and his wife Joan co-founded Austin Dental Equipment Company, which grew into a world leader in dental manufacturing. The Austins became generous philanthropists and have supported numerous projects at OSU including the renovation of Weatherford Hall, the founding of the Austin Family Business and Austin Entrepreneurship programs, and the construction of a new facility for the College of Business, Austin Hall.
Terry Baker (b. 1941) was a star athlete at Oregon State during his three years on the football team and four years playing basketball. The recipient of the 1962 Heisman Trophy for his exploits as the Beavers quarterback, Baker and his teammates also reached the Final Four of the 1963 NCAA basketball tournament. Following a short stint in professional football, Baker enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer.
Eric Ball (b. 1964) and his brother Jeff (b. 1965) are both graduates of OSU's program in Mechanical Engineering. With their father Harold and a fourth partner, the Balls have grown Sutherlin, Oregon-based Orenco Systems Industries into an industry leader in the design and manufacture of wastewater treatment products.
Katy Barber (b. 1969) graduated from OSU in 1992, earning a degree in American Studies. She has been a faculty member in History at Portland State University since 2001, and has written on Native American fishing rights, World War II conscientious objectors, and Oregon in the twentieth century, among other topics.
Range Bayer, Warren Hanson, John Markham and Anja Robinson are all past students at or employees of the Hatfield Marine Science Center. Bayer, a former HMSC graduate student in Zoology, worked in the center's library while a student and, several years later, returned to HMSC as a part-time custodian. Hanson, an OSU graduate student, also spent one year as a research assistant in Parasitology. Markham was a graduate student in Oceanography from 1965-1967 who studied at HMSC while the facility was being built. Robinson, an HMSC researcher and technician, worked to develop a hatchery program for oysters and clams.
Joe Beckman (b. 1953) is an OSU Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, the director of the OSU Environmental Health Science Center, and a faculty member in the Linus Pauling Institute. A leader in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, Beckman has been studying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for more than two decades.
Mike Beilstein (b. 1951) was a member of OSU's first graduating class in Biochemistry & Biophysics, completing his B.S. degree in 1973. After a stint in the Peace Corps, Beilstein returned to OSU where he worked as a research assistant in Agricultural Chemistry and other departments for nearly thirty years. Beilstein is also a political activist who served on the Corvallis city council for a total of six terms.
David Bella (b. 1938) worked as a member of the OSU Civil Engineering faculty from 1967 to 1998. Active in the local environmental movement, Bella's research focused on computer modeling of aquatic ecosystems, systems theory and environmental crisis.
Julie Bentz (b. 1964) is a 1986 graduate of OSU, having received her bachelor's degree in Radiological Health. A United States Army Major General in the Oregon National Guard, Bentz has also served as Director, Strategic Capabilities Policy on President Obama's National Security Staff.
Yvenson Bernard (b. 1984), the son of Haitian immigrants, played tailback for the OSU football team from 2003-2007, finishing his career in second place on the OSU football career rushing list. In 2010 he spearheaded a major relief effort for victims of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January of that year. With his brother Giovanni, an NFL running back, Bernard continues to lead outreach efforts in Haiti.
Larry Bielenberg (b. 1955) was a four-time All American wrestler at Oregon State, who won the national championship in 1975 and went on to compete internationally. A member of the Pac-12 All Century Wrestling Team, Bilenberg graduated from OSU in 1977 with a degree in Physical Education.
Rolland (b. 1933) and Laverne Bilyeu (b. 1932) are both graduates of Oregon State College's class of 1955, Rolland studying Business Administration and Laverne majoring in Home Economics. The couple were married as undergraduate freshmen.
Harold Black (b. 1923) is an OSC alumnus, majoring in Farm Crops and graduating in 1947. A long-time 4-H Agent with the Clackamas County Extension Service, Black helped form the state 4-H Agent Association. Merrily Enquist (b. 1935) is an OSC alumnus, graduating in 1959 with a degree in Business Education. After a period of time spent working as a community college instructor, Enquist enjoyed second careers as a family tree farmer and Master Woodland Manager with the Clackamas County Extension Service.
Gary Blanchard (b. 1939) is a 1962 graduate from the OSU Forestry program who has spent more than fifty years working for Starker Forests, Inc., primarily as the companies Chief Forester. Bond Starker (b. 1947) is a grandson of Starker Forests, Inc. founder T.J. Starker, an OSU Forestry graduate from the class of 1969 and, since 1981, the Chief Executive Officer of Starker Forests. His daughter, Anna May, graduated from the OSU College of Forestry in 2005 and now works in Shareholder Relations at Starker Forests, Inc.
Andy Blaustein (b. 1949) is a Distinguished Professor of Zoology who has been on faculty at OSU since 1978. His research has included important contributions to the scientific understanding of amphibian deformities and population decline.
John Bliss (b. 1951) is an administrator and faculty member in the College of Forestry who has conducted research on private forest policy and forest-based rural development, and led an integrated research, teaching, and outreach program focused on the social and policy dimensions of small scale forestry, particularly family and community forestry.
John Block (b. 1938) was a member of the OSU Pharmacy faculty for thirty-seven years, from 1966-2003. Block also served on the Oregon Board of Pharmacy for eight years, during which time he assisted with interpreting and implementing Oregon's assisted suicide law.
Jerimiah Bonifer (b. 1983), a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, grew up on the CTUIR reservation, just east of Pendleton, and is a fisheries technician for the tribal government's Department of Natural Resources. He completed his undergraduate degree in Fisheries and Wildlife through the Oregon State Extended Campus program in 2014.
Sue Borden (b. 1939) received a master's degree in Mathematics from OSU in 1962, and worked for several years as an instructor and a computer programmer for the Mathematics department and the College of Oceanography. In 1988 she co-founded Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE), an OSU program meant to foster college access and success for students of color in several of Oregon's rural school districts. Borden directed this program until her retirement from Oregon State in 1999.
Harrison Branch (b. 1947) is an internationally recognized photographer and an emeritus Professor of Art who worked at OSU for forty years, from 1972 to his retirement in 2012.
Tammy Bray (b. 1945), a native of China, is Executive Dean of OSU's Division of Health Sciences, Dean of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Professor of Nutrition and Biochemistry and Principal Investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute.
Geoffrey Brooks (1947-2016) was a 1973 alum of OSU's College of Education, majoring in Elementary Education. He spent forty years as a teacher and educator in the Portland Public School system and was a member of the OSU Board of Visitors.
Knute Buehler (b. 1964) attended OSU from 1982-1986, where he played on the baseball team and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Microbiology. Following his undergraduate studies, Buehler attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where he studied politics and economics. Buehler pursued medicine as a career and presently lives in Bend, Oregon. In 2014 he was elected to represent the Bend-area's District 54 in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Margaret Burnett (b. 1949) is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at OSU who has conducted significant research on issues of human-computer interaction with particular focus paid to gender inclusivity in software design.
Karyle Butcher (b. 1942) served the OSU Libraries for twenty-nine years. From 1996-2010 she directed the OSU Libraries as Donald and Delpha Campbell University Librarian. From 2007-2010 she also led the OSU Press.
John Byrne (b. 1928) is an emeritus Professor and Dean in the OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences. A former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Byrne served as President of Oregon State University from 1984-1995.
Darry Callahan (b. 1942) received his bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from OSU in 1964 and spent the next forty years working for Chevron, Inc., a career that included a stint as President of Chevron Chemical Company. Callahan is also a former chair of the OSU Foundation and a member of the university's Board of Trustees.
Margaret Carter (b. 1935) moved from her native Louisiana to Oregon in 1967, where she was hired as a teaching assistant by the Portland public schools. She attended OSU from 1972-1973, earning a master's degree in education with a focus on counseling. In 1984 she successfully campaigned for office in the Oregon House of Representatives, and in the process became the first African American female elected to the state legislature.
Carl (b. 1961) and Kim Casale met as freshmen at Oregon State University and graduated in Agricultural and Resource Economics as members of the class of 1983. Married a year later, Carl went on to a twenty-six year career as a executive at Monsanto, while Kim worked in sales for Bristol-Meyers Squibb. In 2011, Carl was named President and Chief Executive of CHS, Inc., a Fortune 100 company and the largest member-owned agribusiness cooperative in the United States.
Pat Casey (b. 1957) has served as head baseball coach at OSU since 1994, during which time he has led the program to two national championships, four College World Series appearances, and four conference titles. Kevin Gunderson and Chris Kunda were both members of the OSU baseball team that won the College World Series in 2006. Gunderson, a relief pitcher, completed his degree in Sociology after a five-year stint as a minor league player in the Atlanta Braves organization. Kunda, an infielder who played second base for the 2006 team, graduated with a degree in Communications and spent three years playing for minor league affiliates of the New York Yankees. Mike Parker (b. 1959) has been the radio "Voice of the Beavers" since 1999, during which time he has broadcast OSU football, men's basketball, and baseball games.
Susan Castillo (b. 1951) is an OSU alumnus, graduating in 1981 with a degree in Communications. An award-winning journalist, Castillo became an Oregon State Senator in 1997 and, from 2003-2012, served as Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Oregon Department of Education.
Emery Castle (b. 1923) is an emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics, who was on faculty at Oregon State from 1954-1976 and 1986-1993. During his career in Corvallis, Castle served as Dean of Faculty, Dean of the Graduate School and Chair of the University Graduate Faculty of Economics, in addition to six years as head of the Department of Agricultural Economics. He also spent ten years in the leadership of Resources for the Future, a Washington D.C.-based public policy institute.
Ralph Cheek (b. 1930) graduated from Oregon State College in 1952 with degrees in Business and Naval Science. From 1955-1986 he worked for Kaiser Aluminum Center in numerous capacities, working his way up to Vice President of Europe Operations. In retirement Cheek developed two successful recycling ventures including IMCO, the world's largest recycler of aluminum and zinc, which he headed until 1994.
Lynn Clendenin (b. 1953) graduated from OSU in 1990 with a degree in Theatre Arts. For many years a producer and executive producer at Oregon Public Broadcasting, Clendenin is presently Vice President of Programming for OPB and co-host of OPB television's Oregon Art Beat.
Ralph Coleman, Jr. (b. 1931) graduated from Oregon State College in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. Coleman also played baseball at OSC for his father, Ralph Sr., an OAC alum who coached baseball at Oregon State for thirty-six seasons from the 1920s to 1966.
Ted Cox (b. 1947) completed his OSU master's degree in Education - with an emphasis on Physical Education - in 1976. A pioneering home brewer and the long-time owner of the Old World Deli in downtown Corvallis, Cox was also a women's volleyball coach at Oregon State and has written two books on the history of the Toledo/Siletz area of Oregon.
Roosevelt Credit (class of 1990) completed his undergraduate degree in Music Education at OSU before beginning a career in musical and stage performance. His credits include appearances on Broadway in Showboat and Porgy and Bess.
Brent Dalrymple (b. 1937) is a distinguished geologist and emeritus Dean of the OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences. In 2005 he received the National Medal of Science in recognition of work that he conducted that was crucial to the development of plate tectonics theory.
Tracy Daugherty (b. 1955) is a Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing Emeritus who helped to found the university's Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing. A novelist, essayist and biographer, Daugherty is perhaps best known for having chronicled the lives of fellow writers Donald Barthelme and Joseph Heller.
Jodie Davaz (class of 2015) has spent three years as a student employee at KBVR-FM, including one year as station manager. Beginning in Fall 2014, she will lead the production of what was formerly known as the Beaver Yearbook, now Beaver's Digest.
Jim Denison (b. 1927), a World War II veteran, attended Oregon State College from 1946-1950, graduating with a degree in Forest Engineering. Over a career that spanned nearly fifty years, Denison held many positions in the forest industry, including timber cruising and property evaluation. From 1990-2010, he and his wife operated a forestry engineering firm called Coastal Land Management.
Thomas Dietterich (b. 1954) is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at OSU and a founder of the field of machine learning.
Dennis Dimick (b. 1951) is a 1973 OSU graduate, majoring in General Agriculture. A photojournalist and editor, Dimick has been on staff at National Geographic since 1980, specializing in environmental coverage since 1998. He is presently Executive Environment Editor as well as a Picture Editor for the magazine.
Natalie Dollar (b. 1963) has been a member of the OSU Speech Communications faculty since 1993 and began working at OSU-Cascades in 2002. Dollar's research interests have included work on homeless youth and the community surrounding The Grateful Dead music group. Since 2011, she has served as Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at the Cascades campus.
Jenna Dorn (b. 1950) graduated from OSU's Journalism program in 1973. She has enjoyed a long and decorated career in public service including stints as head of the Federal Transit Administration, Assistant Secretary of Labor, senior vice president of the American Red Cross and Chief Executive Officer of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
James Douglass (b. 1936) was Assistant Professor of Music and Director of the OSU Bands from 1968-1999.
Michael Driscoll (b. 1942) is a 1970 OSU graduate, who earned a bachelor's degree in Education. Driscoll is also an Atomic Veteran having spent four years in the United States Navy, during which time he was exposed to two atmospheric nuclear tests: Operation Frigate Bird and Operation Swordfish.
Jeff Edgerton (b. 1962), a 1987 graduate in Microbiology, is a Master Brewer at the BridgePort Brewing Company, where he has worked since 1998.
Jim Edmunson (b. 1951) graduated from OSU in 1973 with a degree in Liberal Studies. During his time at OSU, Edmunson was heavily involved with the Daily Barometer, serving as its editor during his senior year. Following a stint in journalism, Edmunson later pursued a career in law and in politics, serving three terms in the Oregon state legislature and chairing the state's Democratic Party for eight years.
Don Essig (b. 1938) is a 1960 graduate of Oregon State College, majoring in Elementary Education. Since 1967 he has served as public address announcer at University of Oregon sporting events, primarily football and basketball.
Paul Farber (b. 1944) is a Distinguished Professor of History of Science Emeritus, and the former chair of the OSU History Department. A leading scholar of the history of biology, Farber was on faculty at OSU from 1970-2008.
Steve Fenk is a 1987 graduate of OSU. Since 1990 he has worked within the OSU Department of Sports Information and in 2006 was named Assistant Athletic Director for Communications.
Dorothy Fenner (b. 1917) graduated from Oregon State College in 1939 with a bachelor's degree in Home Economics Education. A code-breaker with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, Dorothy maintained a long association with OSU, partly through her husband John, who served as Executive Secretary of the OSU Alumni Association and, later, President of the OSU Foundation.
Justin Fleming is an OSU alumnus who graduated in 2007 with a degree in Business and a minor in Environmental Economics. While an undergraduate, Fleming headed the campus Student Sustainability Initiative. He is presently the head of the University Motorpool, serving transportation needs at OSU and the University of Oregon.
Balz Frei (b. 1958), Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, has served as Director of OSU's Linus Pauling Institute since 1997.
Aya Fujii (b. 1927) is a Japanese American citizen who was interred during World War II. Fujii graduated from Oregon State College as a member of the class of 1949, earning a degree in Home Economics.
John Gardner (b. 1939) is an OSU emeritus Professor of Physics. Gardner lost his sight in 1988, at which point he shifted his research focus from solid state physics to accessibility technologies for blind academics, particularly those in the sciences. In 1996 he founded ViewPlus Technologies to further the research and manufacture of products meant to assist those with limited or no vision.
Tim Hall (b. 1955) graduated from OSU in 1977 with a degree in Technical Journalism. During his time in Corvallis, Hall helped to establish the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center. Following graduation, Hall built a career in public service, including a lengthy tenure at the Portland Water Bureau. Hall also serves on the OSU Board of Visitors.
Karim Hamdy (b. 1952) is an instructor teaching Arabic and French in OSU's Department of World Languages and Cultures. Hamdy studied both civil engineering and linguistics while an OSU doctoral candidate in the 1980s and 1990s. He is also the co-founder of an OSU study abroad program based in his native Tunisia.
Paula Hammond (b. 1956) is an OSU Civil Engineering graduate, having received her bachelor's degree in 1979. Her long career with the Washington State Department of Transportation culminated with her appointment as WSDOT Secretary in 2007. Hammond headed the department for six years, stepping down in 2013.
Ron Hathaway, Jean Pinniger, Rodney Todd, Linda Weider and Doug Whitsett are all residents of the Klamath Falls area who are closely tied to agriculture and Extension in the Klamath Basin. Hathaway (b. 1946) served as Extension agent at the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center from 1972 to his retirement in 2007, and directed the center for two years as well. Pinniger (b. 1932) is the daughter of C. A. "Charlie" Henderson (1892-1969), a hugely influential Oregon State Extension agent who did much to diversify and modernize agricultural practices across southern Oregon. Todd (b. 1946) is a retired Klamath Extension agent who spent thirty-two years supporting the needs of the region's farmers and ranchers. Weider (b. 1944), an OSU Microbiology alum, is the daughter of Guy Reynolds (1920-1995), an Animal Health Specialist with the OSU Extension Service who worked statewide as a liaison between livestock owners, veterinarians and regulatory bodies. Whitsett (b. 1943), a retired veterinarian and former President of the Klamath Animal Clinic, has represented southern Oregon District 28 in the state Senate since first being elected in 2004.
Erin Haynes (class of 1972) attended OSU from 1968-1972, serving as class president his senior year. Employed by the OSU Registrar's Office and, later, the OSU Foundation, Haynes is a historian of and advisor to the campus chapter of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, where he lived during his college career.
Charlotte Headrick (b. 1948), professor of Theatre Arts, has been a member of the OSU faculty since 1982. Headrick's research specialty is Irish women dramatists and she has directed the U.S. premieres of several Irish plays.
Joe Hendricks (b. 1943) is a gerontologist, emeritus Professor of Sociology and founding Dean of the University Honors College at OSU.
John Henley (b. 1951) is the son of Elizabeth Henley, a successful poet and a member of the Oregon State English faculty from 1959-1972. John Henley was a manager at Powell's Bookstore in Portland from 1977-1990 and played a key role in Powell's expansion from a business of six employees in the late 1970s to over two-hundred in the early 1990s.
Michael Henthorne (b. 1952) worked as an administrator at the OSU Memorial Union from 1987 to 2016, serving as its director beginning in 1994.
Jack Higginbotham (b. 1958) has been a professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at OSU since 1987, during which time he served as Senior Health Physicist and Senior Reactor Operator at the OSU Radiation Center. Since 2002 he has led the NASA Space Grant program at Oregon State.
Aki Hill (b. 1940), a native of Japan, led the OSU women's basketball program as its head coach from 1978-1995, during which time the Beavers participated in the NCAA tournament four times.
Darlene Hooley (b. 1939) received her B.S. in Education from Oregon State College in 1961. Active for several years in Oregon politics, Hooley was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1996, where she served until her retirement from public office in 2008.
Tom House, (b. 1925) a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, graduated from Oregon State College in 1949, serving as student body president his senior year.
Chet Houser (b. 1948) is an OSU alum, graduating in 1970 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. A member of ROTC during his college years, Houser built a career as a war planner for the United States Army, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after twenty years of service. In the years that followed, Houser worked for several units within Oregon's Department of Human Services.
Leon Hubbard (1917-2014), the son of two Oregon Agricultural College graduates, completed his Oregon State College bachelor's degree in 1941, majoring in Horticulture. Hubbard worked for the OSU Extension Service before devoting the bulk of his career to private agricultural concerns, in particular the Gresham Berry Growers.
Bob Jacobson (b. 1939) is a 1963 OSU graduate in Business Technology. A member of the Beaver basketball team during his undergraduate years, Jacobson later became the first full-time Marine Extension agent in OSU history, retiring in 1995. Bob's daughter Kaety Jacobson, a 2003 OSU graduate in Fisheries and Wildlife, now occupies her father's old position as Sea Grant Extension agent.
Andrea Jara, Chidi Okonkwo, Jenny Urbina, and Titus Yeang are all international students studying at Oregon State University. Jara, a native of Colombia, is a Ph.D. candidate in Fisheries and Wildlife. Okonkwo (class of 2015), a native of Nigeria, is a master's degree student in Public Health. Urbina, a native of Colombia, is a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Science. Yeang, an international student from Malaysia, is an undergraduate studying Mechanical Engineering.
Katharine Jefferts Schori (b. 1954), received a MS (1977) and Ph.D. (1983) in Oceanography from OSU. In 1994 she earned her Master of Divinity and began working in Corvallis' Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan. In 2006 she was elected as Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of the United States, the first female to occupy this position.
Sisters Nan Jensen (b. 1935) and Ellen Johnson (b. 1932) are both Oregon State College General Science alums. Their father, Francois A. Gilfillan, spent thirty-five years in service to OSC as Dean of Science and, from 1941-1942, as Acting President.
Chris Johns (b. 1951) graduated from OSU in 1974 with a degree in Technical Journalism. A talented photographer, Johns was named National Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 1979. He has been a member of the staff at National Geographic since 1985 and, in 2005, he became the ninth Editor-in-Chief in the magazine's history.
Becky Johnson (b. 1955) has been a faculty member in Forestry Economics and administrator at OSU and OSU-Cascades since 1984. Formerly OSU's Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, Johnson has served as Vice President for the OSU-Cascades branch campus since 2008.
Ruth Jones and Rita Kilstrom, both graduates of the class of 1959, were each involved in the Theater Arts program at OSC. Kilstrom also grew up on the Oregon State campus; her father was D. Palmer Young, professor of theater craft in the Speech Department from 1927 through the early 1960s. Jones was born and raised in Corvallis as well, the daughter of a local retail lumberman.
Zhian Kamvar (b. 1985) is a Ph.D. student in Botany and Plant Pathology. He is also a co-host and co-founder of an award-winning radio talk show, "Inspiration Dissemination," that has aired on KBVR-FM since 2012.
Nancy Kerns (b. 1956), a 1978 OSU graduate in American Studies, has built a distinguished career as a lawyer, working for both Umatilla County and the city of Pendleton. Since 2011 she has served as Pendleton's City Attorney, the first woman to occupy this position.
Ann Kiessling (b. 1942) received her doctorate in Biochemistry/Biophysics from OSU in 1971. An accomplished scientist, Kiessling has emerged as a leading stem cell researcher and is the founder of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation in Massachusetts.
Ilene Kleinsorge (b. 1949) has been a member of the OSU College of Business faculty since 1987 and served as the college's Dean from 2003 to her retirement in 2015.
Kelvin Koong (b. 1943) was an administrator in the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences from 1987-2012. From 1999-2001 he served as Interim Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and in that time was successful in transitioning the school from a two-year to a four-year program.
Paul Kopperman (b. 1945) has taught in OSU's History Department since 1978, focusing primarily on British history. He has also chaired the university's Holocaust Memorial Program Committee since 1994.
Milo Koretsky (b. 1962), a professor of Chemical Engineering, has been a member of the OSU faculty since 1992. An award-winning teacher and pioneering researcher in engineering education, Koretsky has served as an internship advisor for the university's Multiple Engineering Co-Op Program (MECOP) for more than two decades.
Denise Lach (b. 1955) has been on faculty at Oregon State in 1996, during which time she has been a director of the OSU Center for the Analysis of Environmental Change, a co-director of the Center for Water and Environmental Sustainability, and a member of the Sociology department. Since 2010 she has served as Director of the School of Public Policy within OSU's College of Liberal Arts.
Andy Landforce (b. 1917) is a 1942 OSC graduate, majoring in Agriculture. A member of the 1942 Rose Bowl team, Landforce enjoyed a long career at OSU as a County Extension Agent and later as a Wildlife Management Specialist.
Mary (Ayotte) Law (b. 1959) and Joy (Selig) Petersen (b. 1968) are two legends of OSU gymnastics. Law won the NCAA individual title in the floor exercise in 1982 while Petersen claimed national titles in both the balance beam (1989, 1990) and the floor exercise (1990).
Brent Lawrence (b. 1958) graduated from OSU in 1980 with a degree in Business Administration. During his senior year at Oregon State, Lawrence served as the Memorial Union's first Minority Affairs chairperson. He later pursued a career in project management and corporate consulting, and spent seven years living and working in New Zealand.
Phyllis Lee (b. 1936), who earned an OSU doctorate in Education in 1983, served as the first director of the university's Office of Multicultural Affairs, which she led from its creation in 1991 to her retirement in 2003.
Jon Lewis (b. 1955) is a Distinguished Professor of Film Studies who has been a member of the OSU English faculty since 1983 and has written on a broad array of topics including the work of director Francis Ford Coppola and content regulation within the film industry.
Walter Loveland (b. 1939) has been a faculty member in Chemistry and Radiation Science at OSU since 1968. Acclaimed for his work in the field of superheavy ions, Loveland worked closely with Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg, with whom Loveland published two books on nuclear chemistry.
Jane Lubchenco (b. 1947) is Distinguished Professor of Zoology at OSU. From 2009-2013 she served as Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere.
Bill Lunch (b. 1949) is an OSU Emeritus Professor of Political Science and a well-known media personality who has commentated on regional and national politics for Oregon Public Broadcasting since 1988.
Bob Lundeen (1921-2016) received his OSC degree in Chemical Engineering in 1942. Lundeen devoted more than three decades to Dow Chemical, eventually rising to the position of Chairman of the Board prior to his retirement in 1986.
Sandy Macnab (b. 1953) is a 1975 OSU graduate in General Agriculture who also earned an OSU master's degree in Education in 1983, and who has worked as an OSU Extension Agent in his native Sherman County, and also in neighboring Wasco County, since 1979. Billie Stevens (b. 1951) is a retired OSU Extension Agent who led 4-H and family development programs in Crook County from 1976-1985, and in Hood River County from 1985 to her retirement in 2009.
Bob Malouf (b. 1946) earned master's and Ph.D. degrees from OSU in Fisheries and later served as director of Oregon Sea Grant from 1991 to his retirement in 2007.
Melinda Manore (b. 1951) is a professor of Nutrition and Exercise Science at OSU who has published widely on physical activity, nutrient metabolism, and obesity. Manore also received her Ph.D. in Nutrition from OSU in 1984.
Alyssa Martin (class of 2015) is an undergraduate in Civil Engineering and a member of the OSU women's basketball team. Over the course of her four-year career as a Beaver basketball player, Martin scored 985 points.
Bruce Mate (b. 1946) is director and endowed chair of the Marine Mammal Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. First hired at OSU in 1973, Mate pioneered the use of radio tagging and satellite tracking to study the migration and behavior of large whale species.
LaMont Matthews (b. 1934) graduated from Oregon State College in 1956 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering before spending more than four decades working for the CH2M Hill engineering firm in Corvallis. For ten years Matthews served as the company's Chief Mechanical Engineer and he spent another fourteen years as Vice President for Industrial Energy Systems.
Mike McCallister (class of 1965) received a degree in geology from OSU prior to a long career as an oceanographer for the United States Navy as well as private alternative energy concerns. He is among the fourth of a five generation Oregon State family.
June McCallister (1919-2016), a Corvallis native, graduated from Oregon State College class of 1940 with a degree in secretarial science. Third in a five generation Oregon State family, McCallister's great uncle was William Asa Finley, the first President of Oregon Agricultural College.
Brenda McComb, born William McComb in 1952, built a distinguished career in forestry and wildlife management that included two stints on faculty in the OSU College of Forestry. Since 2011 she has served as Dean of the OSU Graduate School and as an instructor in the OSU Queer Studies program. McComb is also a member of the OSU Board of Trustees.
Mina McDaniel (b. 1944) received both bachelor's (1967) and master's (1968) degrees from OSU in Food Science and Technology. A member of the university's Food Science and Technology faculty from 1983 to 2008, McDaniel headed the OSU Sensory Science Laboratory and conducted sensory evaluation research on beer, wine and various foods.
Duane McDougall (b. 1952) graduated from OSU in 1974 with a degree in Business Administration. From 1998-2002, McDougall was President and CEO of Willamette Industries, an international forest products company. McDougall has also served as Chairman of the Board of Boise Cascade and spent many years on the Board of Trustees of the OSU Foundation.
Jessina McGregor (b. 1978) completed an honors double degree in Microbiology and International Studies in 2001. Five years later, she joined the OSU faculty in the College of Pharmacy, conducting epidemiological research on antibiotic resistance and patient care out of the college's campus in Portland.
Starr McMullen (b. 1951) is a professor emeritus of Economics who was an active member of the faculty from 1980 to her retirement in 2014. An expert on transportation economics, McMullen is also an accomplished fiddler who has won numerous fiddle competitions on the national, regional and state levels.
Charlie Miller (b. 1940) was a member of the OSU Oceanography faculty from 1970 to his retirement in 2003. A specialist in marine zooplankton, Miller's research has focused especially on copepods in Oregon, Alaska and Maine.
Frank Moore (b. 1945) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Zoology who worked at OSU from 1975 to his retirement in 2007. Focusing on hormones and reproductive systems in amphibians, Moore made a major discovery in 1981 with his discovery of vasotocin, a hormone that plays a major role in multiple components of animal behavior.
Sylvia Moore (b. 1942) spent thirty-two years on staff at OSU. During that time, she served as one of the university's first Directors of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics and played a crucial role in Oregon State's implementation of Title IX. Moore is also a past coach of the OSU women's basketball and gymnastics teams. She finished her OSU career as Director of Conferences and Special Events.
Mike Newton (b. 1932) earned three Forestry degrees from Oregon State and was a faculty member in the College of Forestry from 1958 to 2000. Specializing in competition and weed control on the forest floor, Newton conducted extensive research on the health effects of various herbicides, including Agent Orange.
Keith Nishida (class of 2014) was a doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the OSU School of Design and Human Environment. In 2012 he founded DAMchic, an online fashion and lifestyle magazine produced by OSU students.
Janet Nishihara (b. 1956) has earned both bachelor's (English Education, 1978) and master's (College Student Services Administration, 1983) degrees from OSU, and has worked for the university in multiple capacities. Involved with numerous initiatives to advance diversity at OSU, Nishihara been associated with the university's Educational Opportunities Program since 1984 and has served as its director since 2009.
David Noakes (b. 1947) is a Professor of Fisheries & Wildlife who has served as Director and Senior Scientist at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center since its creation in 2005. An expert on fish behavior, Noakes spent thirty years researching various fish species as a faculty member at the University of Guelph.
Mary Jo Nye (b. 1944) is an accomplished historian of science who, with her husband Robert, served as OSU's first Horning Professor of the Humanities. Nye was a member of the Oregon State faculty from 1994-2008. In 2006 she was awarded the Sarton Medal by the History of Science Society, the most prestigious honor granted by the organization.
Gloria O'Brien (b. 1960) has worked as a Biological Sciences Technician for the OSU Department of Greenhouse Operations since 2008, specializing in integrated pest management during that time. O'Brien has also been actively involved the OSU local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, serving as a steward and as president of the local from 2010-2014.
Carlton Olson (class of 1973) and Alice Rader (class of 1967) were participants in the "Books for Birmingham" Drive of 1964. The effort, which was led by OSU student volunteers, resulted in some 14,000 books being donated to Miles College, a historically black institution in Birmingham, Alabama.
Bob Olson (b. 1940) is an emeritus professor of Parasitology who began working at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in 1968. Specializing in parasites and diseases of fishes and invertebrates, Olson also served as HMSC's educational coordinator for nearly three decades.
Michael Oriard (b. 1948) is a former professional football player and a cultural historian of football. A Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture, Oriard was a member of the OSU English faculty from 1976-2014 and also Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts for the final ten years of his career.
José-Antonio Orosco (b. 1971) is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at OSU and Director of the university's Peace Studies Program. Orosco is also faculty advisor to OSU's Centro Cultural César Chávez and to the university's chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA).
Bud Ossey (b. 1919), the son of an Oregon Agricultural College alum, graduated from Oregon State College in 1943 with a degree in Civil Engineering. Ossey is a charter member and past president of the Beaver Club and has worked closely with the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. Enshrined in the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame in 2006, Ossey spent more than three decades working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers North Pacific Division and the Bonneville Power Administration.
Doug Oxsen (b. 1952) was a student athlete at Oregon State, playing on the basketball team and graduating in 1975 with a degree in Business. In 2002, after twenty-five years spent working in sales and marketing for the BikeE Corporation and Universal Gym Equipment, Oxsen returned to OSU as Director of Development in Athletics.
Al Parr (b. 1942) earned dual bachelor's degrees in physics and mathematics from OSU in 1964. Parr enjoyed a long career as a physicist, specializing in optical technologies, for the National Bureau of Standards and Technology. He is also a book collector of consequence and, in 2012, donated the Albert and Ruth Parr Rare Book Collection to the OSU Libraries.
Erwin Pearson (b. 1932) graduated from Oregon State College in 1954 with a degree in Animal Husbandry. After completing his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and spending nearly twenty years in private veterinary practice, Pearson joined the staff of the new veterinary college at his alma mater, working as a faculty member with a particular focus on the teaching hospital up to and following his retirement in 1999.
Don Pettit (b. 1955) is a 1978 graduate of OSU, receiving his degree in chemical engineering. Pettit has made a career with NASA as an astronaut and is a veteran of two long-duration stays on the International Space Station, among other achievements.
George Poinar (b. 1936) is the founder of the discipline of paleoentomology. An entomologist and international expert on nematode parasites, Poinar's studies of insect and plant fossils trapped in ancient amber served as inspiration for Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park and paved the way for similar investigations now conducted around the world. Since 1995, Poinar has served as courtesy faculty in the OSU Department of Zoology.
Clara Pratt (b. 1948) directed the Gerontology program at OSU from 1974-1993 and was also the university's last Dean of Home Economics. In 2000 Pratt helped to oversee the merger of OSU's College of Home Economics with the College of Health and Human Performance, and from 2000-2002 she served as Co-Dean of the newly created College of Health and Human Performance. Pratt retired from OSU in 2005, but has continued to teach courses in Human Development and Family Sciences at the OSU-Cascades branch campus.
Ed Ray (b. 1944) has served as OSU's President since 2003. Prior to coming to Oregon State, Ray spent thirty-three years as a member of the Economics faculty and as an upper administrator at Ohio State University.
Pat Reser (b. 1938) attended Oregon State College for two years, completing her degree in Elementary Education in 1960. A teacher for twenty years and the mother of five children, Pat also assisted her husband, Al Reser, in growing their company, Reser's Fine Foods, from a family business into an international enterprise with annual sales over $700 million. A co-chair of the Campaign for OSU fundraising initiative, Pat Reser is also the first chair of the OSU Board of Trustees.
Beth Rietveld (b. 1953) worked at OSU in numerous capacities from 1977-2011. From 1992 until her retirement, Rietveld served as Director of the OSU Women's Center.
Les Risser (b. 1949), a Miami University graduate and former English teacher, was first lady of Oregon State University from 1996-2002. She is married to Paul Risser, former President of OSU and Chancellor of the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.
Paul Risser (1939-2014) was an internationally renowned biologist who served as President of OSU from 1996-2002. Following his time in Corvallis, Risser went on to lead the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education as Chancellor from 2003-2006.
Bill Robbins (b. 1935) is an OSU Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus who has written extensively on the history of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest with a particular focus on the economic and environmental histories of the region.
David Robinson (b. 1947) is a professor of English at OSU and an expert on American Transcendentalist writers. A former chair of the American Studies program, Robinson has served as director of the Center for the Humanities at Oregon State since 2001.
Hossein Rojhantalab (b. 1944), a native of Iran, earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from OSU in 1976. Following the completion of his doctoral studies, Rojhantalab returned to Iran to work as an academic. As turmoil mounted in his home country, Rojhantalab came back to Oregon in 1985 and ultimately enjoyed a successful career as an engineer at Intel.
Larry Roper (b. 1953) served as OSU's Vice Provost for Student Affairs from 1995-2014. During this time he was also on the faculty of the OSU Ethnic Studies department, and continues to serve the university in this capacity.
Jim Rudd (b. 1948) was a member of the OSU Athletic Department from 1974-1982, working as Director of Sales, Promotion and Development. In 1983 Rudd joined the Portland-based investment firm Ferguson Wellman Capital Management, becoming Principal of the company in the 1990s. During his years in Portland, Rudd has maintained close ties to the OSU Foundation, serving multiple terms on its Board of Trustees and its Governing Board. Rudd likewise served as a co-chair of the Campaign for OSU fundraising initiative.
Darlene Russ-Eft (b. 1947) has been a faculty member in the OSU College of Education since leaving private sector work in 2001. The author of several books on evaluation capacity, Russ-Eft is the chair of the Adult Education and Higher Education Leadership discipline within the College of Education, and is also a faculty member in the Community College Leadership doctoral program.
Patti Sakurai (b. 1966) has been a professor in OSU's Ethnic Studies department since its creation in 1996.
Taylor Sarman (class of 2016), an undergraduate in Political Science, was the president of the Associated Students of Oregon State University for the 2014-2015 academic year, and also spent two years as a student representative on the OSU Board of Trustees.
Henry Sayre (b. 1951) is an OSU Distinguished Professor of Art History and a member of the faculty at OSU-Cascades. His highly successful textbook, A World of Art (1994) was repurposed as a ten-part television series produced by PBS in 1997.
Jane Schaeffer, Jim Schaeffer, Harley Smith and Dave Socolofsky are all graduates of the Oregon State College class of 1959. Smith, Socolofsky and Saling were very active in student government, having run for various offices together on the "Shamrock Platform."
Bob Schoning (b. 1923) enjoyed a long career in fisheries science, spending twenty-four years with the Oregon Fish Commission, including eleven years as its Director. Schoning dedicated another seven years to leading the National Marine Fisheries Service before concluding his career as a Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife at OSU.
John Selker (b. 1960) is an OSU Distinguished Professor of Biological and Ecological Engineering whose research has specialized in water resources engineering with a particular focus on developing low-cost technical solutions to agricultural and environmental challenges in the developing world.
Lew Semprini (b. 1952) is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Engineering. Over the course of a career that has been based at OSU since 1993, Semprini has primarily focused on developing approaches to in situ bioremediation of contaminated groundwaters.
Jon Shepard (b. 1941) is a 1963 OSU graduate, majoring in Entomology. Shepard worked for many years as a biodiversity consultant and entomologist - specializing in butterflies - teaching and researching at multiple schools in British Columbia.
Gilbert Shibley (b. 1938) was an agent with the Columbia County Extension Service from 1976 to 1990, during which time he led Forestry Extension programs as well as the 4-H Youth Development Program in Multnomah and Columbia counties.
Larry Sidor (b. 1950) graduated from OSU in 1972 with a degree in Food Science. In the years that followed, he established himself as a leading Northwest brewmaster, working at Olympia Brewing Company and Deschutes Brewery before founding the Crux Fermentation Project in 2012.
Dick Smiley (b. 1943), an OSU professor of Plant Pathology, has worked at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center since 1985. Smiley was Branch Station Director from his arrival to 2000, and also founded the station's plant pathology program.
Loretta Smith, an OSU graduate in Communications (class of 1987), is a member of the Board of Commissioners for Multnomah County, representing North and Northeast Portland's District 2.
Clemens Starck (b. 1937) is an acclaimed poet whose first book, Journeyman's Wages, received both the Oregon Book Award and the Stafford Memorial Poetry Award in 1996. At various points a construction worker, merchant seaman, Wall Street reporter, and door-to-door salesman, Starck worked as a carpenter for OSU's Facilities Services department from 1986 to his retirement in 2005.
Kevin Stoller (b. 1976) double-majored as an OSU undergraduate, receiving his bachelor's degree in History and Mathematics in 1999. Stoller also earned a master's degree at OSU in the History of Science, completed in 2001. A member of the first student cohort of the University Honors College at Oregon State, Stoller is now Director of External Relations and Operations for the UHC.
Patrick Stone (b. 1947) graduated from OSU in 1974 with a degree in History. An accomplished and influential executive in the real estate industry, Stone is currently the President and CEO of Willston Financial Group. Stone also served as a co-chair of the Campaign for OSU fundraising initiative.
Fred Stormshak (b. 1936) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Animal Sciences who was a member of the Oregon State faculty from 1968 to his retirement in 2001. An authority on the mechanics of reproduction in sheep and cows, Stormshak has also helped to lead research on hormonal causes of same-sex attraction in rams.
Dale Story (b. 1942) was an elite distance runner who, in 1961, won the national championship in cross country while an OSU undergraduate. Graduating with degrees in Wildlife Management and Education, Story taught and coached track at Wallowa High School for thirty years.
Warner Strausbaugh (class of 2014) is an undergraduate in political science and a four-year employee of the OSU Daily Barometer. He served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper for the 2013-14 academic year.
Steve Strauss (b. 1955) is a Distinguished Professor of Forest Biotechnology who has conducted extensive research on tree genomics and biosafety, using genetically modified poplars as his primary species of study.
Bernadine Strik (b. 1962) has been a professor of Horticulture at OSU since 1987. Strik is the Berry Crops Research Leader at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center and has conducted research on the physiology and production of blueberries, hardy kiwifruit, various caneberries and numerous minor berry crops.
Mas Subramanian (b. 1953) is an OSU professor of Chemistry, having arrived at Oregon State after a twenty-two year career at DuPont. A solid-state chemist who has conducted widely cited research on pyrochlores, Subramanian discovered, in 2009, a new form of blue pigment possessing highly advantageous environmental properties.
Bill Sundermeier (class of 1985) is an OSU graduate in Computer Science. The founder of Quality Check Software, Ltd., he also worked for FLIR in various capacities from 1994-2014.
John Talbott (b. 1955) is Director of the Sun Grant Western Regional Center at OSU and Assistant Director of the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.
Robert Tanguay (b. 1966) is an OSU Distinguished Professor of Molecular Toxicology who has been a member of the OSU faculty since 2003. Tanguay's research focuses primarily on the use of zebrafish as an experimental model for use in investigations on the impact of, and biological response to, various toxins.
Lisa Templeton (b. 1967) is Executive Director of OSU Extended Campus and has been instrumental to the development of the university's online education programs, as administered by OSU Ecampus.
Maret Traber (b. 1950), Director of the Oxidative and Nitrosative Stress Core at the Linus Pauling Institute, has been affiliated with OSU since 1998. She is among the world's leading experts on vitamin E.
Cliff Trow (b. 1929) is an OSU Emeritus Professor of History, having been a member of the faculty from 1968-1997. Trow also served as a legislator in the Oregon Senate from 1975-2002.
Jo Anne Trow (b. 1931) worked as Assistant Dean of Women, Associate Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs at OSU during a career that spanned the years 1965-1995.
Paul Turner (b. 1961), a former OSU undergraduate in English, is the founder, owner and operator of the Darkside Cinema, located in downtown Corvallis, Oregon.
Paul Valenti (1920-2014) played basketball as an OSC undergraduate from 1938-1942 and later coached basketball, baseball and tennis at his alma mater. From 1970 to his retirement in 1982, Valenti served as Assistant Director of Athletics.
Jack Van Loan (b. 1931), a 1954 OSC graduate in Business Administration/Technology, spent thirty-four years in the United States Air Force. Forced to eject from his aircraft while flying over North Vietnam in 1967, Van Loan spent 2,116 days as a prisoner of war before finally being released in March 1973. Van Loan retired from the Air Force in November 1984 with the rank of Colonel.
Tony Van Vliet (b. 1930), a 1952 OSC graduate, taught in the Forestry Department from 1955-1990. Van Vliet also served for over twenty years in Oregon's House of Representatives while continuing to be active in local civic affairs.
Nicthé Verdugo (class of 2015) is an undergraduate majoring in Ethnic Studies and minoring in Women's Studies. Over the course of her OSU career, Verdugo has been heavily involved with a number of student groups, most prominently the OSU chapter of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA). Verdugo also spent a year as Program and Outreach Coordinator for the OSU Women's Center, and a second year as the center's Student Leadership Liaison.
Marianne Vydra (b. 1963) has served as Senior Women's Administrator in the OSU Athletic Department since 1998.
Dick Waring (b. 1935) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Forest Science who was a member of the faculty in the College of Forestry from 1963 to his retirement in 2001. His research has included extensive use of airborne environmental analysis and the creation of models to predict the ecological impact of climate change.
Warren Washington (b. 1936) earned a bachelor's degree in Physics (1958) and a master's degree in Meteorology (1960) from Oregon State College. On staff at the National Center for Atmospheric Research since 1963, Washington is recognized as a world authority on the atmospheric sciences and climate change. In 2010 he received the National Medal of Science from President Barack Obama.
Ed Waymire (b. 1949) is a Professor of Mathematics who has worked at OSU since 1981. A respected scholar in the field of probability theory, Waymire has conducted extensive research on the mathematics of rain.
Janet Webster (b. 1953) was head of the Guin Library at Hatfield Marine Science Center from 1989-2014. During her career she also served as Head Librarian for all of OSU's branch libraries as well as Interim Director of HMSC.
Dick Weinman (b. 1933) is an emeritus professor of Speech Communications who worked at OSU from 1967-1998. Weinman helped to found KBVR-TV and also hosted Oregon Public Broadcasting's Morning Edition radio program for twenty-two years.
Jim Welty (b. 1933) is an OSC alumnus from the class of 1954 as well as a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering. The chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1970-1985, Welty's primary research focus was thermal fluids.
Roger Werth (b. 1957), a 1980 OSU graduate, has worked as a photojournalist for the Longview (Washington) Daily News for over thirty years. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for his iconic photographs of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.
Tony Wilcox (b. 1951) was a member of the Exercise and Sports Science faculty at OSU from 1987 to his retirement in 2015. Wilcox also spent thirteen years as a member of the OSU Faculty Senate, serving as its President in 1997.
Bryan Wolfe (b. 1944), a fifth generation farmer and rancher, graduated from OSU in 1966 with a degree in Agricultural Economics. Wolfe is the owner of the Wolfe Feedlot and the W. Bryan Wolfe Ranch, located near Hermiston, Oregon.
Dawn Wright (b. 1961) was an active member of the OSU Geoscience faculty from 1995-2011. Now the Chief Scientist at Esri, Wright is a major figure in the application of Geographic Information Systems technology to the study of the ocean floor.
Ron Wrolstad (b. 1939) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Food Science and Technology who worked as an active member of the faculty from 1965 to his retirement in 2004. Wrolstad is also an alumnus of Oregon State College, graduating with a Food Technology degree in 1960. His research has included extensive work on fruit juice quality and testing for juice adulteration.
Russ Yamada (b. 1946) is the son of Nisei parents who met while one was interned during World War II. Yamada graduated from OSU in 1968 with a degree in General Science, and went on to become a dentist based in Corvallis and specializing in endontics.
Mary Yates (b. 1946), graduated from OSU in 1968. After ten years as a teacher, Yates entered the U.S. foreign service, ultimately rising the position of Ambassador to Burundi and, later, Ghana. Her career also included stints as White House Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs and Charge d'Affairs to Sudan.
Tom Yates (b. 1927) was a computer programmer at OSU in the Statistical Computing Laboratory and, later, with the Information Services department. Yates arrived at OSU in 1962 and served as director of Information Services from 1976 to his retirement in 1985.
Harry Yeh (b. 1950), is an OSU Professor of Civil Engineering and an international expert on tsunamis. He has conducted field surveys of numerous areas afflicted by tsunamis, including areas in Japan devastated by the Tohoku tsunami in 2011.
Russ Youmans (b. 1936), OSU Emeritus Professor of Agricultural Economics, is a former Director of the Western Rural Development Center. Funded by the US Department of Agriculture, the WRDC worked to link land grant universities with local policymakers in addressing issues of rural development.
More Extent Information: 243 sets of video and audio files; 95 photographs born digital
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Physical Access Note: All interviews described in this collection are available online. Born digital .mpg or .mp3 files created in the building of this collection are also available on site.
Acquisition Note: All interviews were conducted by Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History project staff, sometimes in concert with other colleagues as indicated.
Related Materials:
All interview contents described in this collection are available online through a dedicated web portal.
Many other SCARC oral history collections place a heavy emphasis on the history of OSU. The largest of these collections are: History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings (OH 003); Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection (OH 009); Horner Museum Oral History Collection (OH 010); and the Oregon State University Extension Service Faculty and Staff Oral History Collection (OH 014).
Preferred Citation: Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information:
We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.
Please be aware that some of the contents in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection may be disturbing or activating. In several instances, interviewees relay stories that recount a culture of racism, sexism and homophobia, and the use of derogatory and harmful language. Connected to this are stories of trauma, both personal and community-wide.
[Date of acknowledgement: April 2023]
Oregon State University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Bahde, Anne
Dicianna, Michael A.
Dilg, Janice (Janice Lynn)
Edmunson-Morton, Tiah K.
Flocker, Kalia A.
Garcia, Greg
McCreary, Karl R.
Petersen, Chris (Christoffer)
Sandgathe, Trevor A.
Somnitz, Geoffrey M.
Abed, George T.
Acock, Alan C., 1944-
Agricultural experiment stations--Oregon.
Agricultural extension work--Oregon.
Ahern, Kevin G.
Al-Abdrabbuh, Sami A.
Alexander, Jo
Allen, Thomas Cort, 1931-
Allison, Stacy
Anderson, Betty Luella
Arnold, Roy Gary
Arscott, G. H. (George Henry), 1923-
Atchley, Tana L.
Austin, Ken, 1931-
Ayotte-Law, Mary
Baker, Terry, 1941-
Ball, Eric S.
Ball, Jeffrey L.
Barber, Katrine
Bayer, Range D., 1947-
Beckman, Joseph Stephen, 1953-
Beilstein, Michael A.
Bella, David A.
Bentz, Julie L., 1954-
Bernard, Yvenson J.
Bielenberg, Larry A.
Bilyeu, Dorothy L.
Bilyeu, Rolland R.
Black, Harold M.
Blanchard, Gary W.
Blaustein, Andrew R.
Bliss, John Caswell
Block, John H.
Bonifer, Jerimiah W.
Borden, Susan J.
Branch, Harrison, 1947-
Bray, Tammy M.
Brooks, Geoffrey N.
Buehler, Knute C.
Burnett, Margaret, 1949-
Butcher, Karyle S.
Byrne, John Vincent, 1928-
Callahan, Darald W.
Carter, Margaret L.
Casale, Carl M.
Casale, Kim
Casey, Pat
Castillo, Susan
Castle, Emery N.
Cheek, Ralph L.
Clendenin, Lynne L.
Coleman, Ralph O., Jr., 1931-
College administrators--Oregon--Corvallis.
College environment--Oregon--Corvallis.
College presidents--Oregon--Corvallis.
Cox, Ted W., 1947-
Credit, Roosevelt
Dalrymple, G. Brent
Daugherty, Tracy
Davaz, Joanne E.
Denison, James M.
Dietterich, Thomas Glen
Dimick, Dennis R.
Dollar, Natalie J.
Dorn, Jennifer Lynn, 1950-
Douglass, James
Driscoll, Michael L. P.
Edgerton, Jeffery A.
Edmunson, James L.
Enquist, Merrily A.
Entrepreneurship.
Essig, Don
Farber, Paul Lawrence, 1944-
Fenk, Steven R.
Fenner, Dorothy Harstad
Fleming, Justin D.
Frei, Balz
Fujii, Aya
Gardner, John A.
Grass, Jeffrey
Gunderson, Kevin C.
Hall, Timothy L.
Hamdy, Karim
Hammond, Paula J.
Hanson, Alfred Warren.
Hatfield Marine Science Center
Hathaway, Ronald L.
Haynes, Erin J.
Headrick, Charlotte
Hendricks, Jon, 1943-
Henley, John, 1951-
Henthorne, Charles Michael
Higginbotham, Jack F.
Hildenbrand, Kaety
Hill, Hatsue Akimoto
History of Science
Hooley, Darlene K.
Hops and Brewing
House, Thomas B.
Houser, Chester W.
Hubbard, Leon V.
International baccalaureate--Oregon--Corvallis.
Jacobson, Robert W. (Robert Warren)
Jara Baquero, Andrea C.
Jefferts Schori, Katharine
Jensen, Nansie.
Johns, Chris
Johnson, Ellen
Johnson, Rebecca L., 1955-
Jones, Ruth A.
Journalism--Study and teaching (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Kamvar, Zhian N.
Kerns, Nancy E.
Kiessling, Ann A.
Kilstrom, Rita J.
Kleinsorge, Ilene K.
Koong, Ling-Jung (Kelvin)
Kopperman, Paul E.
Koretsky, Milo D.
Kunda, Christopher M.
Lach, Denise H.
Landforce, Andrew S.
Lawrence, Brent C.
Lee, Phyllis S.
Lewis, Jon, 1955-
Local History
Loveland, Walter D.
Lubchenco, Jane
Lunch, William M.
Lundeen, Robert W.
Macnab, Alexander W.
Malouf, Robert E.
Manore, Melinda, 1951-
Markham, John C.
Martin, Alyssa B.
Mate, Bruce R.
Matthews, S. LaMont
May, Anna M.
McCallister, Anita J.
McCallister, Michael A.
McComb, Brenda C.
McDaniel, Mina R.
McDougall, Duane C.
McGregor, Jessina C.
McMullen, B. Starr, 1951-
Military education--Oregon--Corvallis.
Miller, Charles B., 1940-
Minority college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Moore, Frank L.
Moore, Sylvia Lee, 1942-
Multiculturalism--Oregon.
Natural Resources
Newton, Michael, 1932-
Nishida, Keith H.
Nishihara, Janet Seiko
Noakes, David L. G.
Nye, Mary Jo
O'Brien, Gloria A.
Oceanography--Study and teaching (Higher)--Oregon.
Okonkwo, Chidi E.
Olson, Carlton
Olson, Robert E. (Robert Eldon), 1940-
Oregon--Politics and government.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State College--Faculty.
Oregon State College--History.
Oregon State University
Oregon State University--Alumni and alumnae.
Oregon State University--Faculty.
Oregon State University--Students.
Oregon State University-Cascades.
Oregon State University. Athletics.
Oriard, Michael, 1948-
Orosco, José-Antonio, 1971-
Osipovich, Bernard A.
Oxsen, Douglas R.
Parker, Mike
Parr, Albert C.
Pearson, Erwin G.
Petersen, Joy E.
Pettit, Donald
Pinniger, Jean F.
Poinar, George O.
Pratt, Clara C.
Rader, Alice
Ray, Edward J. (Edward John), 1944-
Reser, Patricia V.
Rietveld, Elizabeth A.
Risser, Leslie M.
Risser, Paul G.
Robbins, William G., 1935-
Robinson, Anja M.
Robinson, David, 1947-
Rojhantalab, Hossein M.
Roper, Larry D.
Rudd, James H.
Russ-Eft, Darlene F.
Sakurai, Patricia Ann
Sarman, Taylor D.
Sayre, Henry M., 1948-
Schaeffer, James
Schaeffer, Jane
Schoning, Robert W.
Selker, John S.
Semprini, Lewis
Shepard, Jon, 1941-
Shibley, Gilbert A.
Sidor, Larry L.
Smiley, Richard W.
Smith, Harley J.
Smith, Loretta
Socolofsky, Jean.
Socolofsky, Walter D.
Starck, Clemens, 1937-
Starker, B. Bond
Stevens, Billie K.
Stoller, Kevin R.
Stone, Patrick F.
Story, Dale Franklin, 1942-
Strausbaugh, Warner Q.
Strauss, Steven H., 1955-
Strik, Bernadine C. (Bernadine Cornelia), 1962-
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
Students--Political activity--Oregon--Corvallis.
Subramanian, Munirpallam A.
Sundermeier, William A.
Sustainability.
Talbott, John R.
Tanguay, Robert L.
Templeton, Lisa L.
Todd, Rodney M.
Traber, Maret G.
Trow, Clifford Wayne, 1929-
Trow, Jo Anne J.
Turner, Paul W.
Universities and colleges--Oregon--Oregon State University.
University History
Urbina Gonzalez, Jenny C.
Valenti, Paul Bartholomew
Van Loan, Jack L.
Van Vliet, Antone C.
Verdugo, Nicthe
Vydra, Marianne J.
Waring, Richard H.
Washington, Warren M.
Waymire, Edward C.
Webster, Janet G.
Weider, Linda L.
Weinman, Richard J.
Welty, James R.
Werth, Roger A.
Whitsett, Doug K.
Wilcox, Anthony Robert, 1951-
Wolfe, W. Bryan
Women--Education (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Wright, Dawn J., 1961-
Wrolstad, Ronald E., 1939-
Yamada, Russell S.
Yates, Mary
Yates, Thomas L.
Yeang, Kong Zheng
Yeh, Harry Hsiu-jen
Born digital.
Digital photographs.
Oral histories (literary genre)
The digital folders described in each series of this collection will typically contain research materials, photographs, a .mp3 derivative of a given interview, and a .pdf scan of an interviewee's signed paper permissions form. Transcribed and contextualized versions of specific interviews are available through a dedicated project portal as noted below.
Highlights of Series 1 include multi-part interviews with Oregon State alumni Andy Landforce and Bob Lundeen, a session with National Medal of Science recipient Brent Dalrymple, and interviews with retired OSU faculty members Cliff and Jo Anne Trow, both prominent members of the Corvallis community.
The digital folders described in each series of this collection will typically contain research materials, photographs, a .mp3 derivative of a given interview, and a .pdf scan of an interviewee's signed paper permissions form. Transcribed and contextualized versions of specific interviews are available through a dedicated project portal as noted below.
Highlights of series 2 include multi-part interviews with two OSU Presidents Emeritus, John Byrne and Paul Risser; one interview with OSU alum and Heisman Trophy winner Terry Baker; three interviews conducted in Bend, Oregon and focusing on OSU-Cascades; three interviews conducted in Pendleton, Oregon and focusing on perspectives in northeast Oregon; three interviews with Emery Castle, OSU Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Economics; three interviews with prominent OSU alumni living in Washington, D.C.; and one interview with Katharine Jefferts-Schori, who was then the head of the Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of the United States.
The digital folders described in each series of this collection will typically contain research materials, photographs, a .mp3 derivative of a given interview, and a .pdf scan of an interviewee's signed paper permissions form. Transcribed and contextualized versions of specific interviews are available through a dedicated project portal as noted below.
Highlights of Series 3 include three interviews conducted with international students studying at OSU; an interview with prominent OSU alum Ken Austin, the founder of A-dec, Inc.; two interviews with Jane Lubchenco, OSU professor and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; one interview each with Pat Reser, Patrick Stone and Jim Rudd, the three co-chairs of the Campaign for OSU; an interview conducted in Denver, Colorado with National Medal of Science-winner Warren Washington; four interviews conducted in Klamath Falls, Oregon with people associated with Extension work in the region; four more interviews conducted in Bend, Oregon and focusing on OSU-Cascades; and four interviews conducted with OSU President Ed Ray.
The digital folders described in each series of this collection will typically contain research materials, photographs, a .mp3 derivative of a given interview, and a .pdf scan of an interviewee's signed paper permissions form. Transcribed and contextualized versions of specific interviews are available through a dedicated project portal as noted below.
Highlights of Series 4 include two interviews conducted in Hood River, Oregon and focusing on Extension work in the region; interviews with OSU baseball coach Pat Casey and OSU radio announcer Mike Parker that focus on Oregon State's College World Series triumphs in 2006 and 2007; and a group interview devoted to the history of Starker Forests, Inc.
The digital folders described in each series of this collection will typically contain research materials, photographs, a .mp3 derivative of a given interview, and a .pdf scan of an interviewee's signed paper permissions form. Transcribed and contextualized versions of specific interviews are available through a dedicated project portal as noted below.
Series 5 includes interviews with nine individuals who have been recognized as Distinguished Professors, the highest honor that OSU bestows upon members of its own faculty.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.