Affiliation: Board of Trustees
Darry Callahan Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
August 6, 2015
Darry Callahan (b. 1942) graduated from OSU in 1964 with a degree in Chemical Engineering
and moved directly into a career at Chevron that spanned some forty years. Over the
course of that time, Callahan worked as a research engineer, financial analyst, manager
and executive. At one time the president of Chevron Oil Bahamas, Callahan also served
as the chief executive at Chevron Chemical Company as well as the succeeding company
that he helped to merge, Chevron Phillips Chemical. Callahan has also been very actively
involved with the OSU Foundation, the OSU College of Engineering, and the OSU Board
of Trustees, of which he has been a member and vice chairman since its creation. His
interview focuses on his undergraduate years in Corvallis, his long and varied career
at Chevron, and his more recent activities with his alma mater.
Brenda McComb Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen and Kalia Flocker.
February 24, 2015
Brenda McComb was born William McComb in 1952. Over two stints at OSU, McComb worked
as a member of the faculty in the Department of Forest Sciences and Department of
Fisheries and Wildlife, as Dean of the Graduate School, as Vice Provost for Academic
Affairs, and as a member of the OSU Board of Trustees. In addition, McComb has been
central to the development of a support network for transgender individuals both on
campus and throughout the mid-Willamette Valley. Her interview focuses largely on
the story of her own gender journey, including discussion of the personal and professional
impacts of her gender transition from male to female. The session also touches upon
her work in academia as a faculty member, an administrator and an advocate.
Ed Ray Oral History Interviews
Four life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
June - August 2015
Ed Ray (b. 1944), the fourteenth President of Oregon State University, has overseen
both historic growth on campus and a major recalibration of university ambitions.
Trained as an economist, Ray spent thirty-three years at Ohio State University, where
he served as chair of the Economics department before moving into central administration,
first as Chief Information Officer and later as Provost. Ray came to OSU in 2003
and set in motion a strategic planning process that realigned university structures
and goals. He also launched OSU's first comprehensive capital campaign, The Campaign
for OSU, which raised $1.142 billion and resulted in a busy period of campus construction
as well as the endowment of seventy-nine faculty positions and the creation of over
600 scholarship and fellowship funds. Over four interviews, Ray reflects on his upbringing
and education; discusses his roots as a scholar and an administrator; and shares his
perspective on a wide array of initiatives that have moved forward during his tenure
as OSU President.
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.