The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

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Affiliation: Ecampus

Kevin Ahern Oral History Interview - June 29, 2015

Kevin Ahern Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna.
June 29, 2015
Kevin Ahern (b. 1954) is an OSU Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics who is well-known for his innovative approach to undergraduate instruction. For many years a Senior Instructor, Ahern pioneered the use of unorthodox techniques - including limericks and songs, which he calls "Metabolic Melodies" - to help students understand and retain complex biochemical processes. Ahern was also on the forefront of the use of the internet to enable scientific education, and has been posting notes and lecture recordings online since 1995. The Director of Undergraduate Research at OSU, Ahern has also co-authored multiple textbooks. Included among these are a collection that he wrote with his wife, OSU Senior Instructor Indira Rajagopal, and made freely available online. His interview focuses on his personal scientific evolution, his passion for teaching and advising, and the innovations that he has applied to undergraduate instruction at Oregon State.

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Baseball National Champions, Back-to-Back - October 2015 - July 2016

Baseball National Champions, Back-to-Back

Four interviews conducted by Greg Garcia, Chris Petersen, and Mike Dicianna.
October 2015 - July 2016
From 2005 to 2007, the Oregon State University baseball program enjoyed a sustained run of success that is without parallel in university history. Over the course of three seasons, the Beavers participated in the College World Series three times, winning back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. In the process, OSU also achieved multiple milestones that are unequalled in the history of college baseball: in 2006, the Beavers won six consecutive elimination games to claim the national championship, and in 2007 they won four tournament games by six runs or more. This unprecedented era of championship baseball is the primary subject of a collection of interviews conducted with four individuals: players Kevin Gunderson and Chris Kunda; broadcaster Mike Parker; and manager Pat Casey.

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Jerimiah Bonifer Oral History Interview - November 22, 2014

Jerimiah Bonifer Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
November 22, 2014
Jerimiah Bonifer (b. 1983) is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, who grew up on the reservation and in nearby Pendleton, Oregon. From 2009-2014, while living in Pendleton and working full-time, Bonifer attended OSU through its Extended Campus online degree program, studying Fisheries and Wildlife. Bonifer completed his undergraduate work in 2014; his participation in commencement exercises that Spring at Reser Stadium marked his second ever visit to OSU's Corvallis campus. His interview focuses on his traditional tribal upbringing, his Ecampus experience, and his professional work in fisheries.

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Darlene Russ-Eft Oral History Interview - June 23, 2016

Darlene Russ-Eft Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
June 23, 2016
Darlene Russ-Eft (b. 1947) is a faculty member in OSU's College of Education who arrived at the university in 2001 after spending seventeen years in the private sector. Known today as a founder of the field of Human Resources Development, Russ-Eft has written widely on program evaluation and the transfer of training. In 2008, Russ-Eft became chair of the Adult Education and Higher Education Leadership discipline within the College of Education and, for many years, she has been actively involved in OSU's highly regarded doctoral program in Community College Leadership. In her interview, Russ-Eft shares a series of recollections dating to her years in the private sector, and provides her institutional memories of the evolution and growth of the College of Education since the turn of the century.

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Lisa Templeton Oral History Interview - August 6, 2015

Lisa Templeton Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
August 6, 2015
Lisa Templeton (b. 1967) has been instrumental to online learning at OSU since its first programmatic inception in 2002, and has served as director of the university's Extended Campus since 2008. Under Templeton's leadership, OSU Ecampus has emerged as a national leader in online education to the point where, in 2015, it was ranked fifth out of three-hundred online bachelor's degree programs, delivering nineteen undergraduate majors and twenty-two graduate programs to over 4,500 students. Templeton's interview focuses on the institutional history of distance education at OSU during the internet age, the inner-workings of OSU Ecampus today, and the environment navigated by faculty who are teaching and students who are learning online.

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