The Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Project

Sort Interviews by Affiliation or Theme

Theme: Faculty Governance

Emery Castle Oral History Interviews - October 14 - 15, 2014

Emery Castle Oral History Interviews

Three life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
October 14 - 15, 2014
Emery Castle (b. 1923), a widely respected agricultural economist, made a significant impact on Oregon State University over four decades of service. At various points the chair of the Agricultural Economics department, the Dean of the Graduate School, and the head of the University Graduate Faculty of Economics, Castle was also one of three co-chairs of the Commission on University Goals, a group that played an important role in shaping the strategic agenda of the university in the early 1970s. A major contributor to conversations on natural resources and the rural economy, Castle also led a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank, Resources for the Future, from 1976-1986, before returning to Corvallis for the final seven years of his career. In three interviews, Castle discusses his education and service during World War II; his scholarly achievements in agricultural economics and rural studies; and his diversity of experiences as an administrator in Corvallis and elsewhere.

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Jack Higginbotham Oral History Interview - November 3, 2015

Jack Higginbotham Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
November 3, 2015
Jack Higginbotham (b. 1958) has been a member of OSU's Nuclear Engineering faculty since arriving in Corvallis in 1987, and has led the Oregon Space Grant program since 2002. During his years at Oregon State, Higginbotham has also served as Senior Reactor Operator and Senior Health Physicist at the OSU Radiation Center; chair of the Radiation Health Physics program; Associate Dean of the Graduate School; and President of the Faculty Senate. In a wide-ranging interview, Higginbotham discusses his education and academic work in nuclear science and engineering; his institutional memories of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science at OSU; and the activities of Oregon Space Grant during his years of association.

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Starr McMullen Oral History Interview - September 4, 2015

Starr McMullen Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
September 4, 2015
Starr McMullen (b. 1951) was a member of the OSU Economics faculty from 1980 to her retirement in 2014, serving as department chair from 2001 to 2005. An award-winning scholar of transportation economics, McMullen has also served on the Oregon Governor's Council of Economic Advisors since 2003. McMullen is likewise an accomplished violinist and fiddler, who won the 2014 National Senior Fiddle Championship at the National Oldtime Fiddle Contest. Her interview traces her work in economics; her institutional memories of the Economics department at OSU; her perspective on the struggles that women continue to face in academia; and her on-going pursuits as a musician.

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The OSU Extension Service Centennial Oral History Collection - August 2007 - June 2009

The OSU Extension Service Centennial Oral History Collection

Sixteen life history interviews conducted by Elizabeth Uhlig.
August 2007 - June 2009
In anticipation of its centennial in 2011, the Oregon State University Extension Service interviewed several of its emeritus faculty in 2007, 2008, and 2009. These interviews help to tell the story of Extension in Oregon over a fifty-year period following World War II, and cover topics including agriculture, 4-H, home economics, energy, community development, Sea Grant, communications, administration, and support. The interviewees who are included in the collection that is presented here are: Roberta Anderson, Len Calvert, Dean Frischknecht, John Hansen, Bob Jacobson, Duane Johnson, Alberta Johnston, Harold Kerr, Glenn Klein, Linda Modrell, Owen Osborne, Jack Ross, Jane Schroeder, Walt and Sally Schroeder, Greg Tillson, and Tom Zinn.

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Michael Oriard Oral History Interviews - March 2015

Michael Oriard Oral History Interviews

Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
March 2015
Michael Oriard (b. 1948) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Literature and Culture who worked at OSU from 1976 to his retirement in 2013. Oriard is also a former professional football player who, after receiving All American honors at the University of Notre Dame, spent four seasons in the National Football League as an offensive lineman with the Kansas City Chiefs. As an academic, Oriard's primary focus has been the cultural history of football, and he is widely recognized as an expert on the United States' most popular sport. In two interviews, Oriard discusses his life as a student athlete and professional football player, his growth and productivity as a scholar, and the fragile status and uncertain future of American football.

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Beth Rietveld Oral History Interview - June 11, 2014

Beth Rietveld Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
June 11, 2014
Beth Rietveld (b. 1953) served as Director of the OSU Women's Center from 1992-2011 and was an influential agent of change within both the Women's Center and the larger campus community. A recipient of the National Women's Studies Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, Rietveld made important contributions to campus dialogues concerning inclusiveness for the LGBT community, salary equity for women faculty, and work-life balance issues. Prior to her tenure as head of the Women's Center, Rietveld was, variously, Assistant Director of Physical Recreation and Assistant Director of Student Involvement at OSU. Her interview focuses on the arc of her career, the development of her voice as a womens rights activist, and the changes in campus climate that she has observed over more than three decades of involvement with OSU.

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Cliff Trow Oral History Interview - December 13, 2013

Cliff Trow Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
December 13, 2013
Cliff Trow (b. 1929), a native of Kansas, spent thirty-one years on the OSU History faculty, receiving the Organization of American Historians' Binkley-Stephenson Award in 1972. In addition to his academic career, Trow - who has been involved in Democratic Party politics since the late 1950s - was elected to the state Senate in 1974 and represented District 18 until his retirement from office in 2003. A champion of education in Oregon, Trow served on a number of committees, including periods chairing the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Education Committee. He was also elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate for 1981-1983. His interview focuses on his career at OSU and in politics, and his long and fruitful marriage to Jo Anne Trow, herself a former member of the OSU President's cabinet and a respected public figure.

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Tony Wilcox Oral History Interview - June 23, 2015

Tony Wilcox Oral History Interview

Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
June 23, 2015
Tony Wilcox (b. 1951) was a member of the faculty of the College of Public Health and Human Sciences from his arrival at OSU in 1987 to his retirement in 2015. Primarily interested in exercise physiology as a researcher, Wilcox also served as chair of the Department of Exercise and Sports Science from 1994 to 2011, and as co-director of the School of Biological and Population Health Sciences from 2011 to 2015. Wilcox likewise spent more than a dozen years as an OSU Faculty Senator and was President of the Faculty Senate in 1997. His interview focuses on his work as a researcher and administrator in exercise science, his life-long passion for running, and his many contributions to the Faculty Senate and to a wide swath of university committees.

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