Theme: Business Administration
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.