Affiliation: Alumni - 1940s
Betty Lu Anderson Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
June 1, 2017
Betty Lu Anderson (b. 1923) attended Oregon State College from 1942 to 1945, during
which time she majored in Home Economics and worked for the school newspaper, The Barometer, where she wrote sports copy and, as a senior, served as editor. Anderson's years
as an OSC undergraduate coincided with the American entry into World War II, and her
attendance at the college was marked in part by a notable absence of male students.
Much of her interview focuses on this unique period in Oregon State's history. Anderson's
later careers in journalism, librarianship and the church are included as secondary
topics.
George Arscott Oral History Interviews
Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
December 5, 2014
George Arscott (b. 1923) is an alumnus of and an emeritus faculty member at Oregon
State. A veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, Arscott completed his bachelor's
degree in Poultry Husbandry in 1949, and was a member of the Poultry Science faculty
from 1953 to his retirement in 1987. An accomplished researcher and expert in poultry
nutrition, Arscott chaired Poultry Science for eighteen years, a time period during
which a new poultry facility was built at OSU, and an era that also saw nearly all
of the department's faculty participate in a five-year poultry extension and training
program in the Yemen Arab Republic. In retirement, Arscott continued to serve internationally,
consulting on poultry operations in Central and South America, Egypt, and Lithuania.
Over two interviews, Arscott shares his memories of his military service, his research
and progression through academia, and the activities of the Poultry Science department
over his five decades of affiliation.
Memories of Clackamas County Extension
Two life history interviews conducted by Mike Dicianna.
November - December 2016
The Oregon State University Extension Service traces its roots in Clackamas County
to 1917, when the service assigned a home economist to the region for the first time.
Today, the Clackamas County office oversees a robust schedule of programming focusing
on trees and forests, 4-H youth, family and community health, home gardening, agriculture,
and watershed health. In anticipation of Clackamas County Extension's one-hundredth
anniversary, two interviews were conducted in 2016 with individuals who maintain close
ties to the region and the office. Merilly Enquist, a 1959 OSC graduate and fourth-generation
descendent of Oregon pioneers, manages timber stands on her family's 300-acre estate
near Molalla, Oregon. Harold Black, a World War II veteran and 1947 OSC Farm Crops
graduate, worked as a 4-H Extension agent and administrator for more than three decades
in Columbia, Clackamas and Multnomah counties.
Jim Denison Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
September 24, 2014
Jim Denison (b. 1927) spent more than sixty years working in Oregon's forests as a
timber cruiser, land surveyor and forestry consultant, co-founding two companies along
the way - Denison Surveying and Coastal Land Management. A World War II veteran,
Denison attended Oregon State College from 1946-1950, majoring in Forest Engineering
and funded by the G.I. Bill. The primary focus of his interview is his long and multifaceted
career in forestry, with his OSC and military experiences included as secondary topics.
Aya Fujii Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
September 15, 2015
Aya Fujii was born in 1927 in Hillsboro, Oregon and grew up with six siblings on her
family's farm. In May 1942, she and her family were forcibly relocated from their
home as part of the war-era policy of Japanese American internment on the west coast.
Fujii ultimately spent nearly all of her high school years in Adrian, Oregon, where
her family participated in a field labor program for interned citizens that was administered
by the Eastern Oregon Farm Labor Bureau. In fall 1945, just after the conclusion
of World War II, Fujii enrolled at Oregon State College, where she majored in Home
Economics. She later spent more than thirty years working as a dietician at two Portland-area
hospitals. In her interview, Fujii shares her memories of her family background and
upbringing; her experience of being interned for over three years; her undergraduate
tenure at OSC; and her life and work following college.
Ken Hedberg Oral History Interviews
Four life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
September - October 2011
Ken Hedberg (b. 1920) has a personal connection to OSU that spans parts of nine decades.
Born in Portland and raised primarily in southern Oregon, Hedberg attended Oregon
State College from 1939-1942, graduating with a degree in Chemistry. Following a
stint working for Shell Development Company during World War II, Hedberg continued
his education at the California Institute of Technology, completing his Ph.D. in 1948
and developing a friendship with Linus Pauling that would last until Pauling's death
in 1994. Hedberg returned to his alma mater in 1956, accepting a position in the OSC
Chemistry department and remaining on faculty until retiring in 1987. Recognized
internationally as an expert on the determination of molecular structures through
the use of electron diffraction, Hedberg has continued to work and publish in the
years since his formal retirement, solving the structures of numerous compounds using
an apparatus that he designed and built in the mid-1950s. Over four interviews Hedberg
shares his memories of campus life in the years prior to World War II; discusses the
environment at Caltech during its "golden age"; provides insight into the life, work
and personality of Linus Pauling; and reflects on more than half a century of Chemistry
at OSU.
Tom House Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
June 7, 2014
Tom House, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War, graduated from Oregon
State College in 1949, serving as student body president his senior year. In a short
interview, House reflects on his student years in the late 1940s and shares his memories
of the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980.
Leon Hubbard Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
December 18, 2013
Leon Hubbard (1917-2014), the son of two Oregon Agricultural College graduates, earned
a degree in Horticulture from Oregon State College in 1941. Hubbard was engaged with
agriculture in Oregon for the whole of his life. A well-known and much respected
crop specialist and cannery administrator, Hubbard spent nearly four decades working
for Birds Eye General Foods, the Gresham Berry Growers Cooperative and its successor
organization, Norpac Foods, Inc. His interview focuses on his upbringing in rural
Oregon, his undergraduate experience at OSC, his seven years as an independent farmer,
and his long career as a field representative for agricultural operations in the northern
Willamette Valley.
Andy Landforce Oral History Interviews
Six life history interviews conducted by Mike Dicianna and Debora Landforce.
May 2013 - October 2015
Andy Landforce (b. 1917) graduated from Oregon State College in 1942, serving as student
body president his senior year. A World War II veteran, Landforce enjoyed a long career
at Oregon State University, first as a County Extension Agent and later as a Wildlife
Management Specialist. He also worked for an additional fifteen years in retirement
as a professional fishing guide. Among many other topics, the Landforce oral history
interviews focus on campus life at Oregon State College during the 1930s, the 1942
Rose Bowl game, his military service during World War II, and his post-war career
at OSU.
Bob Lundeen Oral History Interviews
Four life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
July - August 2013
Bob Lundeen (1921-2016) graduated from Oregon State College in 1942 with a BS in Chemical
Engineering. Lundeen served in the Army Air Corp during World War II as a weather
officer stationed in China. After the war, he began working for Dow Chemical Co.,
eventually rising to the position of Chairman of the Board. Following his retirement
from Dow in 1986, he served on the Board of Directors for Tektronix and later became
CEO. In retirement Lundeen has made a deep impact at OSU as a donor, an honorary OSU
trustee, and a member of the Board of Trustees for the OSU Foundation. Topics covered
in the Lundeen interviews include his early life, his experiences during wartime,
and his memories of Oregon State College. Other subjects discussed include his long
career at Dow, family life, retirement and philanthropy.
Bud Ossey Oral History Interviews
Two life history interviews conducted by Mike Dicianna.
October - November 2014
Bud Ossey (b. 1919) is the son of Russian immigrants whose father enrolled in the
Engineering program at Oregon Agricultural College shortly after arriving in the United
States in 1923. Ossey grew up attending Oregon State sporting events at Bell Field
and the Men's Gymnasium, and notably sat on the visiting bench as a spectator during
the famous OSC vs. USC "Iron Men" game in 1933. A 1943 OSC graduate in Civil Engineering,
Ossey led Combat Engineering units during World War II. Following the war, he spent
thirty-six years working as an engineer, primarily with the Bonneville Power Administration,
and specializing in the hydroelectric design of power houses across the Northwest.
Ossey is also a charter member of the Beaver Club and has been actively involved with
many other groups that have worked to advance the mission of Oregon State University.
Over two interviews, Ossey reflects on his early memories of campus life, his close
involvement with Beaver athletics, his service during wartime, and his career as a
BPA engineer.
Jean Starker Roth Oral History Interviews
Four life history interviews conducted by Maia Fischler.
September - November 2007
Jean Starker Roth (1920-2015) was an influential alumna who supported a wide range
of initiatives on the OSU campus and in the Corvallis community. The daughter of
T.J. Starker - an OAC graduate and faculty member in Forestry, and a successful businessman
and civic leader - Starker Roth completed her degree in Home Economics in 1942. She
worked for seven years as a teacher and Extension staffer, and also supported the
war effort at Camp Adair and elsewhere. In 1948 she married Kermit Roth, and over
the decades that ensued the couple raised four children. After Kermit's death in 1979,
Jean assumed control of the family's business activities while also giving back generously
to the community and to her alma mater. Over the course of four interviews, Starker
Roth recalls her upbringing and schooling in Corvallis, her management of the Roth
family household, her involvement with a variety of business concerns, and her many
philanthropic activities.
Paul Valenti Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen and Dominic Cusimano.
February 24, 2014
Paul Valenti (1920-2014) was integrally connected to Oregon State University for more
that seventy years, beginning with his arrival on the Oregon State College campus
as a student athlete in 1938. A member of the Beaver basketball squad during his
undergraduate years, Valenti later served as freshman baseball coach, freshman basketball
coach, head basketball coach and head tennis coach, spanning a time period from 1946-1970.
He continued on as Assistant Athletic Director until retiring in 1982, and remained
an enthusiastic ambassador for OSU until his death in 2014. His interview covers
his upbringing in California, his school and coaching experiences at OSU, and his
recollections of many people that he met along the way.