The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

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Theme: Business Administration

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 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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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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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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Charlie White Oral History Interview - May 18, 2011

Charlie White Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Dwaine Plaza and Natalia Fernández.
May 18, 2011
Charlie White (b. 1938) was the first African American recruited to play basketball on scholarship at OSU, and only the second African American student-athlete in the history of the program. White transferred to OSU after a three-year stint in the military and two years at a California junior college. A dynamic guard/forward on the court, White captained the Beavers during his senior year, leading to the 1965-66 team to the Pacific-8 Conference championship and a first-round win over the University of Houston in the NCAA tournament. A member of the Oregon State Sports Hall of Fame, White was inducted into the Pac-10 Basketball Hall of Honor in 2011. His interview focuses primarily on his memories of campus and community life as a trailblazing African American student-athlete in the mid-1960s.

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