Biography
Douglas Reed Oxsen was born in 1952 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up in Walnut Creek, California. Oxsen's father had played college basketball and semi-professional baseball, and athletics were always a key component of Doug's life while growing up. By 1970, Oxsen had grown to a height of 6'10" and he committed to play basketball at Oregon State University. Sidelined for one year due to a knee injury, Oxsen lettered three times for the Beavers, averaging 7.1 points per game as both a junior and senior. Notably, during his senior campaign, Oxsen's Oregon State team broke UCLA's Pac-8 winning streak, which by then had stretched to forty-nine games. The Beavers also the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA basketball tournament that year.
Oxsen graduated from OSU in 1975, completing his degree in Business. From there, he continued to play basketball for two years with Athletes in Action, an offshoot of the Campus Crusade for Christ ministry that played games versus college teams and national squads all around the world. Oxsen's tenure with Athletes in Action coincided with the organization's greatest successes on the basketball court, including victories of the University of San Francisco and the University of Nevada - Las Vegas, both of whom were ranked in the top 5 nationally at the time. Oxsen later played professionally in England as well.
From there, Oxsen entered into the private sector, finding employment in sales and marketing with Universal Gym Equipment and, later, with the Corvallis-based BikeE company. In 2002, he accepted a position as Director of Development in Athletics with the OSU Foundation. In this capacity, Oxsen has played a lead role in raising funds to support the expansion and renovation of Reser Stadium, the Basketball Practice Facility, and the Whyte Track and Field Complex, among other initiatives.