The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

Sort Interviews by Affiliation or Theme

Affiliation: College of Business

Ken Austin Oral History Interview - March 24, 2015

Ken Austin Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna and Chris Petersen.
March 24, 2015
Ken Austin (b. 1931) attended Oregon State College from 1949-1953, graduating with a degree in Industrial Engineering. While at OSC, Austin became the first Benny Beaver mascot, wearing a costume of his own design and construction, and entertaining fans with antics that often incorporated a starter's pistol that he wore on his hip. Following the completion of his studies and a stint in the Air Force, Austin worked eight jobs in eight years before launching his own business, Austin Dental Equipment Company, or A-dec. Mechanically inclined and a habitual tinkerer, Austin's innovations revolutionized the practice of dentistry and fueled dizzying growth for A-dec. Later on, Ken and his wife Joan became heavily involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors, generously supporting several programs at OSU and providing the lead gift for a new home for the College of Business, Austin Hall. Austin's interview focuses on his life-long interest in machinery, his rich undergraduate experience at OSC, the creation and growth of A-dec, and his family's experiences in philanthropy.

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Yvenson Bernard Oral History Interview - September 12, 2014

Yvenson Bernard Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
September 12, 2014
Yvenson Bernard (b. 1984) attended OSU from 2003-2007, majoring in Merchandising Management and starting for three years at running back for the football team. Known for his versatility and toughness as a football player, Bernard finished his career second on the school's list for career yards rushing and third in career touchdowns. The son of Haitian immigrants, Bernard also made news in 2010 by organizing a major relief effort in response to the earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12th of that year. His interview focuses on his upbringing in Florida, his experiences as a student athlete at OSU, his outreach work in Haiti, and the importance that family has played throughout his life.

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Rollie and Laverne Bilyeu Oral History Interview - March 26, 2015

Rollie and Laverne Bilyeu Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
March 26, 2015
Rollie (b. 1933) and Laverne Bilyeu (b. 1932), both raised in rural northeast Oregon, met as sophomores at Oregon State College and married during the summer before their junior year. Majoring in Business Administration and Home Economics respectively, the Bilyeus lived, studied and worked as a married couple for two years before graduating with the class of 1955. In their interview, Rollie and Laverne reflect on OSC's campus culture during the early 1950s, discuss their shared experience as married students, and outline their varied occupational pursuits in the years that followed, including Laverne's association with several county branches of the OSU Extension Service.

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Ralph Cheek Oral History Interview - October 15, 2014

Ralph Cheek Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
October 15, 2014
Ralph Cheek (b. 1930) graduated from Oregon State College in 1952, completing a degree in Business while also participating in Naval ROTC. Following a period of military service, Cheek embarked upon a career with Kaiser Aluminum that would span more than thirty years. Beginning as a scrap foreman, Cheek eventually advanced to the position of Vice President of Manufacturing and Sales for Kaiser Aluminum Europe, while also serving as a member of the Kaiser Aluminum Europe board. In 1986 Cheek retired from Kaiser Aluminum and accepted a position as CEO of IMCO Recycling, which he built up to become the world's largest recycler of aluminum cans. In his interview he discusses his OSC years, his many positions with Kaiser Aluminum, and his influential leadership of IMCO Recycling.

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Memories of Clackamas County Extension - November - December 2016

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.

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Ralph Coleman, Jr. Oral History Interview - July 8, 2014

Ralph Coleman, Jr. Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
July 8, 2014
Ralph Coleman, Jr. (b. 1931) is a 1954 OSC graduate in Business Administration. A Corvallis native, Coleman played baseball for his father, Ralph Sr., during his Oregon State years. Ralph Coleman, himself a graduate of Oregon Agricultural College, led Beaver baseball for parts of five decades, beginning in the mid-1920s and lasting until his retirement in 1966. Coleman was also an early track coach and director of the school's intramural sports program. Ralph Coleman, Jr.'s interview focuses on memories of his father, growing up in Corvallis in the 1930s and 1940s, and the early years of Oregon State baseball.

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Justin Fleming Oral History Interview - December 15, 2015

Justin Fleming Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
December 15, 2015
Justin Fleming (b. 1980) is a 2007 graduate of OSU, majoring in Business and minoring in Environmental Economics. While a student, Fleming was central to a number of activities related to environmental sustainability on campus, including the creation of the Student Sustainability Initiative in 2006. Following graduation, Fleming worked for OSU as a Business Analyst before being hired as Manager of the Motor Pool in 2008. Since then, Fleming has overseen the absorption of the University of Oregon Motor Pool into a larger University Motor Pool that is managed at OSU. He was also responsible for the first purchase of electric cars for inclusion in the Motor Pool fleet. His interview touches upon his involvement in multiple sustainability initiatives as well as the history, activities, work culture, and future of the University Motor Pool.

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Tom House Oral History Interview - June 7, 2014

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.

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Bob and Kaety Jacobson Oral History Interview - January 20, 2015

Bob and Kaety Jacobson Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
January 20, 2015
Bob Jacobson (b. 1939) attended Oregon State as an undergraduate and member of the Beaver basketball team, graduating with a degree in Business and Technology in 1963. Three years later, he became the country's first Marine Extension Agent, working with coastal fishermen and seafood processors, as well as state-wide policymakers, for nearly three decades. His daughter Kaety Jacobson (b. 1981) is a 2003 OSU graduate in Natural Resources. In 2005, she too began a career as a Marine Extension Agent, operating out of her hometown of Newport. In their interview, the Jacobsons reflect on their closely connected experiences as OSU students and Marine Extension Agents on Oregon's coast, commenting on the similarities and differences that each has observed over the decades.

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Ilene Kleinsorge Oral History Interview - February 10, 2015

Ilene Kleinsorge Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
February 10, 2015
Ilene Kleinsorge (b. 1949) was a member of the OSU College of Business faculty from her arrival in 1987 to her retirement in 2015. For the final twelve years of her career, Kleinsorge served as the college's Dean, a time period that saw significant change within Business. As Dean, Kleinsorge oversaw broad changes to the college's curriculum as well as the implementation of several new programs, a strengthened emphasis on innovation, and the construction of a state-of-the-art facility, Austin Hall. Her interview focuses on her atypical career path - which included stints as a factory worker and licensed practical nurse - as well as the strategic planning process that was central to the renewal of the College of Business. She also discusses her interactions with Ken and Joan Austin, and recounts the story behind Austin Hall.

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Brent Lawrence Oral History Interview - December 28, 2015

Brent Lawrence Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
December 28, 2015
Brent Lawrence (b. 1958) attended OSU from 1977-1980, during which time he served as the first chairperson of the Minority Affairs program at the Memorial Union. Not long after completing his bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Lawrence also came out to his family, revealing his identity as a gay man. After obtaining an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Lawrence embarked upon a successful career as a project manager and independent consultant, working in fields as varied as software development, team building, and psychometrics. For seven years, Lawrence lived and worked in New Zealand, during which time he and his partner obtained dual citizenship. In his interview, Lawrence traces his path through academia and the business world, commenting in particular on his experiences as a gay man, and on the crucial role that his multicultural perspective has played over the course of his life.

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June McCallister Oral History Interview - July 3, 2014

June McCallister Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna and Chris Petersen.
July 3, 2014
June (Geil) McCallister (1919-2016) was the matriarch of a five-generation Oregon State family. A 1940 OSC graduate in Secretarial Science, McCallister married into a lineage that traced back to William A. Finley, the first president of Corvallis College, as well as Hugh M. Finley, co-founder and first president of the school's Alumni Association. She was also mother to three children, all of whom graduated from OSU, as well as nine grandchildren, many of them Beaver alumni. Her interview focuses on her memories of undergraduate life at Oregon State College in the 1930s as well as her family's extraordinary connection to the university, which dates back to the 1860s.

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Duane McDougall Oral History Interview - July 15, 2015

Duane McDougall Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
July 15, 2015
Duane McDougall (b. 1952) is a native Oregonian and an OSU alum who graduated in 1974 with a degree in Business and Technology, focusing primarily on Accounting. After college, McDougall spent twenty-three years at Willamette Industries, a forest products company with headquarters in Oregon. During that time, McDougall rose steadily up the ranks within the company until ultimately receiving promotion to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer in 1998. McDougall led Willamette Industries for the remainder of its existence, stepping down only after the company succumbed to an eighteen month-long hostile takeover bid launched by Weyerhaeuser and consolidated in 2002. Later on, McDougall joined the leadership team at Boise Cascade, serving as CEO for nine months and chairing the company's board for nearly six years. McDougall's interview traces his memories as a student and supporter of OSU as well as his years as a forest products executive during very turbulent times.

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Keith Nishida Oral History Interview - May 20, 2014

Keith Nishida Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
May 20, 2014
At the time of his interview, Keith Nishida was a Ph.D. candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the OSU School of Design and Human Environment. In 2012 he challenged a group of his students to collaborate and create a fashion magazine for their final class project. This assignment quickly bloomed into a continuing creative endeavor, called DAMchic magazine, that is now its own student-run organization. In its short history, DAMchic has attracted a wide audience - one issue of the online publication has logged over 500,000 views - and broad student support within the School of Design and Human Environment. In his interview, Nishida reflects upon his personal experiences in the world of fashion and at OSU, as well as the history and aspirations of DAMchic magazine.

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Doug Oxsen Oral History Interviews - July - December 2015

Doug Oxsen Oral History Interviews

Two life history interviews conducted by Mike Dicianna.
July - December 2015
Doug Oxsen (b. 1952) played for Ralph Miller's OSU basketball squads in the early 1970s, graduating in 1975 with a degree in Business. After a period where he continued to play on a semi-professional basis, Oxsen settled into a private sector career in the health industry. In 2002, Oxsen returned to his alma mater when he accepted a position as Director of Development in Athletics with the OSU Foundation. In this capacity, he has played a lead role in raising funds to support the expansion and renovation of Reser Stadium, the construction of the Basketball Practice Facility, and the building of the Whyte Track and Field Complex, among other initiatives. Over two interviews, Oxsen shares his memories of playing basketball for Ralph Miller, defeating mighty UCLA, and helping to modernize OSU's athletics facilities as a fundraiser with the OSU Foundation.

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Pat Reser Oral History Interview - April 24, 2015

Pat Reser Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
April 24, 2015
Pat Reser (b. 1938) and her family have made a major impact on OSU as donors, leaders and high profile advocates for a variety of university initiatives. Pat and her husband Al both graduated from Oregon State College in 1960, she in Elementary Education and he in Business Administration. A public school teacher and mother of five children, Pat organized Reser family life while her husband worked long hours building Reser's Fine Foods from a family business to an international corporation employing more than 3,000 people. The Reser family later played a significant role in advancing multiple goals important to OSU, including the renovation and expansion of the school's football stadium, which was renamed Reser Stadium in 1999 in honor of a major gift made by the family. The Resers later provided lead gifts for two signature projects of the Campaign for OSU - the Linus Pauling Science Center and Austin Hall. Pat Reser served as a co-chair of the school's capital campaign, and later was elected as the first chair of the OSU Board of Trustees. Reser's interview focuses on her life and partnership with her husband Al, her professional work in education and her volunteer work in Beaverton and Corvallis, and her insight into the Reser family's key involvement with development at OSU.

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Jack Van Loan Oral History Interview - November 7, 2014

Jack Van Loan Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
November 7, 2014
Jack Van Loan (b. 1931) is a career military officer who graduated from Oregon State College in 1954 and was promptly commissioned into the United States Air Force. A fighter pilot, Van Loan flew both Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom aircraft during the early years of his career. Van Loan's life changed dramatically in May 1967, when his jet was shot down over North Vietnam. Van Loan was promptly captured and spent the next 2,116 days - nearly six years - as a prisoner of war. He was released in March 1973 as part of Operation Homecoming and, after a period of recovery, resumed his military career until retiring in 1984 with the rank of Colonel. His interview touches upon his undergraduate years at OSC, but primarily focuses on his experience of being imprisoned in the "Hanoi Hilton."

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