FALL 2025 PRES. MURTHY ON RESEARCH FUNDING HOW NOT TO CUT OFF YOUR FINGER Oregon State Beaver believers taking fandom to the next level.
RIGHT: Senior AJ Marotte takes a shot against the University of Portland on Jan. 18, 2025. As a student, GAYLE FITZPATRICK, ’78, joined the masses camping out on the ramps of Gill Coliseum, earning the best seats in the era of legendary men’s basketball coach Ralph Miller. She’s remained a diehard Beaver fan ever since. Today, she’s especially inspired by the momentum in women’s sports. “I had a great experience at OSU,” Gayle says, “and my education prepared me for success in life. I want to help others have the same opportunity to grow as an individual and leader.” Through a gift from her estate, Gayle is establishing new endowed funds in women’s athletics and the College of Business, creating learning and leadership opportunities for generations to come. You, too, can strengthen the future of OSU athletics and the university programs you love most through an endowment gift in your will or trust. Let’s talk about how your legacy can make a lasting impact. Jennifer Milburn, Office of Gift Planning 541-231-724 | Gift.Planning@osufoundation.org A bright future for Oregon State Athletics.
Fall 2025 1 PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 F E A T U R E In Every Issue On the Cover C ON T E N T S FALL 2025 2 PHOTO ESSAY 5 EDITOR'S LETTER 7 PUBLISHER'S LETTER 8 LETTERS 58 IN MEMORIAM 64 BACKSTORY ← Vintage OSU buttons from the collection of Susan and Bob Schmidt. Photo by Karl Maasdam, ’93. 32 For Love or Money From “pay to play” to the transfer portal, Oregon State alumni student-athletes reflect on the college sports shake-up. By Kip Carlson 38 Super Fans! There are fans, and then there are superfans. Meet some of the colorful characters at the heart of school pride. By Scholle McFarland THE QUAD VOICES P.12 President Jayathi Murthy talks federal research funding cuts; six alumni on what they imagined their biggest challenge would be after graduation. NEWS P. 16 The university releases an economic impact report; a new research forest added outside of Portland; the Wester Flyer sails once again. RESEARCH P. 23 How Oregon State made its mark on the new PDX airport terminal; a study shows that outdoor recreation is essential for mental health. CULTURE P. 27 Initiatives aim to improve students’ ability to talk through heated topics; a student-run press launches. OUR COMMUNITY ALUMNI NEWS P. 49 Steve Gass, ’86, and the quest to make table saws safer; updates from alumni around the globe. O N L I N E OREGON STATER SPOTLIGHT Portland mayor Keith Wilson, ’86, talks about his path to public service in a Stater video at oregonstater. org/mayor-wilson. The magazine of the Oregon State University Alumni Association
2 OregonStater.org MOME N T S punched their ticket to the College World Series for the eighth time in school history. Afterward, Head Coach Mitch Canham, ’11 — who played on OSU’s legendary national championship teams of 2006 and 2007 — shared a heartfelt moment The energy was electric at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field on June 8, as a boisterous home crowd cheered Oregon State to a 14-10 victory over Florida State in the decisive third game of the NCAA Corvallis Super Regional. With the win, the Beavers DIAMOND DREAMS
Fall 2025 3 PHOTOS BY KARL MAASDAM,’93 PHOTO ESSAY shy away from what everyone else perceives as difficult things — those great opportunities.” All he had for his players was pride: “Just an incredible group the entirety of the year. … Their heads should be held high.” (See his remarks at bit.ly/CWS-Canham.) among the fewest in the nation. When the team’s College World Series run ended in Omaha a little over a week later, Canham brushed off reporter questions about whether that had been tough: “Who cares about an independent schedule? … We don’t with his former coach Pat Casey (top right), namesake of the endowed coaching position Canham now holds. The triumph was especially sweet as this was OSU’s first year with an independent schedule, which included only 19 home games out of 54 —
CREDIT TK The official Oregon State University license plate is here. Ride with pride — and help support Oregon State University. The new Beaver State license plate is available at DMV offices across the state. For more information, visit beav.es/license-plate. SHOW YOUR PRIDE ON YOUR RIDE!
Fall 2025 5 FROM THE EDITOR ART BY JOÃO FAZENDA Fall 2025, Vol. 110, No. 3 PUBLISHERS John Valva, executive director, OSUAA; vice president of alumni relations, OSU Foundation Dan Jarman, ’88, chair, OSUAA Board of Directors EDI TOR Scholle McFarland DIGITAL & PRODUCTION MANAGER Travis Stanford GRADUATE ASSISTANT Cora Lassen ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Pentagram Austin, DJ Stout, Davian-Lynn Hopkins, Becky Plante DESIGN CONSULTANT Teresa Hall, ’86 COPY EDITOR Charles Purdy ADDRESS CHANGES ForOregonState.org/Address LETTERS AND QUESTIONS stater@osualum.com 877-678-2837 Oregon Stater 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 ADVERTISING Travis Stanford advertise@osualum.com 541-737-2786 ADVISORY COUNCIL Nicole “Nikki” Brown, ’04 Vicki Guinn, ’85 Tyler Hansen Colin Huber, ’10 Chris Johns, ’74 Jennifer Milburn, ’96 Elena Passarello Mike Rich, ’81 Lori Rush, ’78 Roger Werth, ’80 Oregon Stater (ISSN 0885-3258) is published three times a year by the Oregon State University Alumni Association in collaboration with the Oregon State University Foundation and Oregon State University. Content may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FAN I wasn’t sure what to expect when I set out to find and interview Oregon State superfans.We write a lot about the players — their feats, their fumbles and, as college sports changes, the new choices they face. But if you expand your view or, better yet, turn the camera around, you see that every game, every competition, is made up of not only those on the playing field, but also those in the stands. Year in and year out, each new generation of student-athletes looks up to see Reser alive with black and orange, feels the Gill floorboards (and their eardrums) vibrate with the roar of the crowd. The players’ faces and names change, but the spirit, that fervor, that community, remains. We learned something about how important that is during the pandemic — it’s just not the same to play to empty seats, or even to a sea of cardboard cutouts. I wondered what I could learn from talking with some of the die-hardest of die-hard Beavers. Those who dedicate their time and, in some cases, considerable creativity to the OSU community. (See our cover story, “Super Fans!” on page 38.) When I asked them why they do what they do — whether it’s spending hours every day keeping a popular Facebook forum kind, baking cookies for the baseball and gymnastics teams or wearing Beaver gear 9,000 days in a row — a theme quickly became clear.Almost every answer came down to two things: the people and the fun. They talked about spouses met and best friends made, the pleasure of reconnecting with old friends while tailgating or watching games together, and the pride they have for their university and its achievements, both athletic and academic. Lu Ratzlaff, ’78, better known as “Cookie Man,” who has faced multiple health problems in recent years, described a moment with Mitch Canham, ’11, Pat Casey Head Baseball Coach: “I thanked him. I said, ‘You don’t realize what you guys do for me. If I have a bad day or something, I forget about it because I’m watching the guys run.’” Being a fan, it turns out, is about more than following a team. It’s about finding connection, joy and sometimes escape. In other words, being a fan, like being part of the Oregon State University community, just makes life better. Come eat cookies, make buttons and tell us about your favorite superfan at the Alumni Center before the Homecoming game on Oct. 11. We want to celebrate what no NCAA rule changes can touch: you. Scholle McFarland Editor, Oregon Stater
6 OregonStater.org Kernutt Stokes has been helping Oregonians, many of them OSU grads, reach their business goals for more than 75 years. in privately-held and family-owned companies in construction, manufacturing, agribusiness, transportation, professional services, and more. If you’re seeking accounting services, give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you. Proud to serve our fellow OSU alumni. Firm partners and OSU alums Shelly Sorem, CPA and Bend | Corvallis | Eugene (541) 752-4556 | kernuttstokes.com SAVOR QUALITY. SAVOR EDUCATION. OSU COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES If you’re craving a sweet treat, look no further than the newly opened Beaver Classic Creamery in Withycombe Hall! Our student-run creamery offers a delightful selection of ice cream, cheese, honey, and other products, all crafted by students in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Hours: Mon–Thurs: 12–8 PM | Fri–Sat: 12–9 PM Check our website for special game day hours: beav.es/Ny2
Fall 2025 7 FROM THE PUBLISHER ART BY JOÃO FAZENDA OFF I CERS Chair, Dan Jarman, ’88 Vice Chair, Jonathan Riley, ’09 Treasurer, Jay Boatwright, ’78 MEMBERS Derek Abbey, ’99 Casey Anderson, ’14 Dom Biggi, ’88 Bob Bluhm, ’82 Sara Boraston, ’15 Sharada Bose, ’84, M.S. ’88 Gabrielle Homer, ’88 Colin Huber, ’10 Conrad Hurdle, ’96, MAT ’97 Jon Isaacs, ’97 Kelley Kaiser, ’93, MPH ’99 Julie Lambert, ’85 Bella Larsen, student representative, ex officio Keith Leavitt, ’88 Charlene McGee Kollie, ’04 Lee Miller, ’80 Jayathi Murthy, OSU president, ex officio Candace Pierson-Charlton, ’73, Ed.M. ’02 Mary Power, ’90 Denver Pugh, ’97 Shawn Scoville, OSU Foundation president and CEO, ex officio Dorian Smith, ’09, MAIS ’17, Ed.D. ’25 Marcia Torres, ’01 Michael Whitten, ’12 Ellen Yin, ’16 ADDRESS 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 541-737-2351 osualum@osualum.com ForOregonState.org SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: facebook.com/ oregonstatealum X: @oregonstatealum Instagram: @oregonstatealumni YouTube: @Oregon_Stater Sign up for the Beaver Lodge newsletter at ForOregonState.org/BeaverLodge When I ask our alumni which Oregon State faculty and staff members left the greatest impression on them, I’m often rewarded with tales of the Ron Lovells of our world. Each issue of this magazine includes a list of community members we’ve recently lost. We review these entries with care, because behind every name is a story and a lasting connection to Oregon State. Nowhere do we feel the limitations of print space more acutely. This Stater’s list includes Ronald P. “Ron” Lovell. He died in March at age 87. The basics of his life are this: He was a journalism professor for 25 years and, in retirement, a prolific author of mystery novels and academic textbooks. He was a true gentleman — brilliant, witty and generous. At Ron’s memorial service in Lincoln City, former students shared memories of his powerful mentorship. In his eulogy, longtime Stater editor Kevin Miller, ’78, recalled how the professor once cornered him in a parking lot to urge him not to waste his storytelling ability. Kevin reflected: “I still don’t understand how this little man fired in me a desire to become useful. But I do know he cared about me, and I know that whatever is good about my life is partly and irrevocably due to him.” Alumni rose one after another to share anecdotes of a scholarly man who pointed out their talent and then insistently helped them refine their skills. Retirement didn’t slow him in this vocation. He reached out to his extensive professional network to help former students land jobs, joined them on mutual book-signing tours and stepped in with publishers to advocate on their behalf. Ron returned to Oregon State in his final decade — this time as a volunteer. Kevin and I asked him to help launch the Oregon Stater Advisory Council to provide a sounding board for ideas. Ron organized critiques with our standout council members. He was a professor again — tireless and fully engaged. After Kevin’s retirement, Ron helped us select and onboard our latest in a lengthy line of exceptional editors, Scholle McFarland. She’ll miss the email messages from Ron (almost always with the subject in all caps) — praising the latest issue as “OUR FINEST YET,” before providing constructive feedback. We loved Ron. We’ll miss him. He embodied the too-often-overlooked impact of Oregon State faculty, staff and coaches — mentors who see in us what we can’t seem to recognize on our own. Their kind words and critical interventions alter our course, and their caring guidance lasts a lifetime. John Valva Publisher, Oregon Stater Does this remind you of an OSU mentor who inspired you? Send your memories to stater@osualum.com. TEACHERS WHO NEVER LEAVE US
8 OregonStater.org TUNNEL: KATTERLEA MACGREGOR, ’24; DORM FOOD: OSU SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES “IT WAS SPOOKY, AND WE HEARD STRANGE NOISES. THE OLDER WORKERS TOLD ME IT WAS THE PIPES.” Underground Stories My husband [Dr. Mark Rampton, ’72] has interesting steam tunnel stories. As a high schooler growing up in Corvallis, he and a group of friends would enter the steam tunnel at night, and they knew how to come up into the women’s gym and swim in the pool. I think they even took a canoe down and rowed around. It seems that they almost got caught once. By the time my high school class came of age, three years later, the tunnels were locked up. —ALICE RAMPTON I enjoyed the article regarding the steam tunnels. My wife, Sally Blanc, was a secretary for the athletic department from 1976 to 1978 while I attended school. Paul Valenti got me a job with the plumbing department across the street from Gill. In the summers of 1976 and 1977, they turned off the steam so we could go underneath for repairs — new gaskets and fittings and various repairs. Even with the steam off, it was hot! I didn’t mind. I was young and AI EVERYWHERE We rarely run out of extra copies of the magazine, but we came awfully close with the Spring 2025 issue. Its cover story, “6 Things You Might Not Know About OSU and AI,” got the word out about the university’s artificial intelligence prowess at events including the Portland Business Journal’s April AI Forum. And our story about the OSU steam tunnels — and the myth and mystery that surrounds them — generated the most reader excitement, especially online. It was the most clicked story in the Stater’s email newsletter and prompted a few readers to share their own experiences below ground. SPRING 2025 SPRING 2025 EXPLORING OSU’S TUNNELS CUTE DOG SNIFFS OUT SCIENCE CLUES GO BEAVS! Six brag-worthy ways we’re making an impact with artificial intelligence. p. 32 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ↑ Diamond drops of condensation shimmer on the ceiling of an OSU steam tunnel passage. L E T T E R S
Fall 2025 9 ↘ In 1963, students protested a room and board increase … and, while they were at it, the quality of the food. needed the money for school. It was spooky, and we heard strange noises. The older workers told me it was the pipes. Never worked alone. We had a buddy system. Thanks for the article. —LARRY BLANC, ’ 78 Faith and Firsts As an Episcopalian, I read the article about Katharine Jefferts Schori [“Gospel of Change”] with interest. I knew that she had roots in Corvallis and with the Good Samaritan Church, but the piece I didn’t know was that we were on campus at the same time. She finished her master’s in 1977 while I completed my bachelor’s. The other part is that my family lived in Philomath until I was entering sixth grade, and we attended the Good Samaritan Church. My parents were married there and both of my sisters and I were baptized there. Fast forward to her being elected as the Presiding Bishop; it was awesome because she started at the same place I did, and she was the first woman to lead the Episcopal Church. “How cool is that!” I thought. When the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon elected their 10th Bishop at the annual convention in November 2009, the Presiding Bishop would conduct the ordination and consecration.This was held in Eugene, at the Hult Center (if I remember correctly). Michael Joseph Hanley was ordained to the episcopate and installed on April 10, 2010. I stood in line to meet Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori, shook her hand, introduced myself and shared our common thread. I will never forget her smile and kindness to me. She was, and continues to be, a great human being. —LINDA (CLARK) O’HARA, ’ 77 Memorable Mentors When I read “The Things We Carry” Perspectives column in the Spring 2025 issue of the Oregon Stater, I thought of my former journalism professor, the late Rob Phillips. I was a first-generation college student back before “first-gen” was even a thing, and I came from a home full of trauma. Kids raised that way either shrink or expand in an attempt to keep aggressors at bay. I did the latter, and was therefore often the most talkative — and clueless — person in Rob’s classroom. I once overheard him talking to another journalism professor when he thought the hallway was empty, and the gist of his evaluation of me was “so much potential, but distractable and immature.” Those latter two attributes reared their head in the spring of my sophomore year, and I dropped out. Rob single-handedly got me back in school and kept me there so that the “so much potential” he saw would have time to materialize. (I’m proud to say it did throughout my career.) Rob’s influence in my life was the subject of a recent Substack I wrote [at bit.ly/Renee-SH], where readers can find more details of that story. There’s rarely a day I’m not grateful for him and for having attended OSU. I’m proud to say my greatniece, Faith Boswell, currently attends and is finding it as life- giving as I did! —RENÉE SCHAFER HORTON, ’82 Send letters and comments by email to stater@osualum.com or by fill out the form at OregonStater. org/connect. We edit for clarity, brevity and factual accuracy. Please try to limit your letters to 225 words or less. SHARE YOUR FOOD MEMORIES AND MYSTERIES We’re cooking up a special food-themed issue of the Oregon Stater, and we want to hear from you! Whether you have fond memories of campus restaurants or, like the protesters in this 1963 photo (the sign reads, “This guy ate dorm food”), you still shudder at the thought of cafeteria fare, we’d love to include your story. Likewise, we want to get our hands on favorite OSU-related recipes and hear about much-missed delights we might be able to track down. Email us at stater@osualum.com.
10 OregonStater.org VOLUNTEERS ARE THE KEY TO OUR SUCCESS. Will you help us unlock a better future for Oregon Staters? Picture yourself as a: » Webcast presenter » Career mentor » Alumni network leader » Local volunteer coordinator » Community service project host » College/unit ambassador » Plus countless other opportunities Find a role that matches your passions: bit.ly/OSUAAVolunteer “I get to inspire students to learn from professionals in my industry who are looking for new talent. I love my career and I love my Beavs, and volunteering lets me combine those worlds in a big way.” – Casey Anderson, ’14, OSUAA Board of Directors Ad Tk WELCOME TO THE 2025–26 SEASON PRAx is OSU’s hub for evolving the arts by challenging your perspective and making you feel through our performances, events, engagements, visual arts, classes and conversations. PRAx is proud to announce our 2025–26 season theme of AI! We’ll ask challenging questions like what does creative expression look like in the age of AI? In partnership with Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex ARTS + AI SERIES PACKAGE To see all of PRAx’s 2025–26 events, visit our website: beav.es/NvC
Fall 2025 11 PHOTO BY KAI CASEY T H E QUAD A particularly enthusiastic member of the Class of 2025 landed a perfect backflip during Commencement. INSIDE VOICES P. 12 NEWS P. 16 RESEARCH P. 23 CULTURE P. 27
12 OregonStater.org KAI CASEY ← President Murthy during this June’s Commencement procession. Follow her on X at @OregonStatePres. WHY SCIENCE MATTERS PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON STAYING TRUE TO OREGON STATE’S MISSION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES. As told to Scholle McFarland Much like two years ago when the Pac-12 collapsed, today we’re discussing something altogether unexpected, which is the disruption of federal research funding. OSU’s strategic plan lays out the goal of doubling research expenditures over the next five years. Do you still think that’s going to be possible in the new climate we find ourselves in? We’re focused on continuing to deliver on our mission. We’re focused on OSU being a place where big ideas lead to big solutions. There is, of course, a lot of uncertainty in the federal research funding landscape. As we do long-term planning, we have to be prepared for instability and turbulence — we have to harden our research enterprise against this instability. This means broadening our research base, pursuing research opportunities aggressively and across the spectrum — federal, industrial, philanthropic. If we do things right, I think we will succeed. It’s June as we speak, and Congress is working to finalize a budget. What’s at stake in the large-scale cuts to research funding being discussed, and what does it mean for Oregon State? Before we talk about what that means to universities and to VO I C E S
Fall 2025 13 PRESIDENT Q + A OSU in particular, we’ve got to recognize the potential consequences to science and the loss of American dominance in scientific research, which has really existed since World War II. The payout to American society has been enormous in all kinds of ways: in conveniences, in advances in medical care and in cutting-edge technologies that we all use every single day. Universities do a lot of that fundamental research. People have been talking about industry doing it more efficiently and how we should send this research over to industry. But the truth is, the arrangement that we’ve come to, which has worked well, is that the federal government funds high-risk research, and the results are owned by the public, not locked away as private intellectual property. This arrangement takes away the risk and expense for industry so they can create practical solutions and applications based on that research. Universities also train the next generation of researchers. Can you give an example of what you mean by high-risk research? Look at quantum science. Nowadays we’re talking so much about quantum computing, and all these folks are spinning off quantum computing companies. But quantum mechanics was developed in the early 1900s. And at the time, it was invented to explain certain measured phenomena that could not be explained by classical mechanics. Nobody thought that that was going to be the basis of microelectronics or computing — computers as we know them didn’t even exist. If a company took the risk of developing something like quantum mechanics with the view that it was going to pay off in 100 years — they would never do it. There’s no board of a company that would ever allow a company to invest in that way. We should also think about whether such fundamental knowledge can really sit in private hands. Imagine if Newton’s laws of motion sat in private hands. What would that even mean? A patent fee? Right? For use of Newton’s laws! There are things that have to sit in the public domain. So for OSU, what does this mean when we think about potential big funding cuts? We’ve got huge investments in all things sustainability, all things environment, all things climate. That means cuts to NOAA or the Department of Energy would mean the loss of valuable intellectual work. We won’t be training as many graduate students because we won’t be able to support them on research funds. We will have fewer undergraduates in the labs doing handson work and learning about the fun of science and perhaps choosing scientific careers. It means that the high-end workforce pipeline, particularly the science and tech workforce pipeline, will be much, much thinner. These hits will be felt five, 10, 15 years from now. These are very real losses, not just for OSU, but also for society more broadly. Have we felt any impacts already? Yes, we’re certainly beginning to feel them. For example, federal funding for an OSU project on K-12 mental health and counseling services for rural and Central Oregon schools was discontinued. Many Oregon school districts have very high student-to-counselor ratios and low retention rates for counselors, so this is a big blow.There are other types of impacts as well. Job prospects and internship opportunities for students have also fallen off due to federal funding cuts and uncertainty about the future. Do you think scientific research can survive without federal funding? I don’t think it can in its current form. Philanthropy doesn’t have sufficient scale. I mean, if you look at what foundations do, they’re incredibly generous and they fund good work. But nothing compares to the size of the federal government. Similarly, industry could fund it. Industry does have scale. But they just won’t support long-term research. And of course, industry will want to protect intellectual property. About 7% of Oregon State students — that’s about 2,500 — are international students. It’s not clear yet how new policies will affect them, but perhaps you can speak to why they’re important to OSU. For OSU, as for most U.S. universities, international students bring a wealth of talent and a connection to the world that we would not otherwise have. It is true that international students pay full freight, and this helps offset the costs that Oregonians bear. But they bring so much more — different cultures, different perspectives, food, music, the arts — all of this is incredibly enriching. As a land grant university, our connection to the world is especially important. The issues we work on — issues around food, water, climate, health, energy — these are global issues. International students connect us to the places and people to whom these issues matter most. And we shouldn’t forget the other advantages. The affinity we create in these young people for American values, for the American system, “THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FUNDS HIGH-RISK RESEARCH, AND THE RESULTS ARE OWNED BY THE PUBLIC, NOT LOCKED AWAY AS PRIVATE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.” continued
14 OregonStater.org daaaaaaaaaaam. no added hormones. never given antibiotics. Ranching at Nature’s pace. for democracy, for the general idea that the U.S. stands for good in the world — this is very important currency. Currency that is much more important than the money these students bring in. How is OSU taking action on these issues? We are working to identify the things that we can actually act on. We’re hardening our research enterprise, figuring out a way to deal with long-term uncertainty. We’ve got to broaden the base of research. We have to build relationships in Washington D.C. We’ve got to advocate for research support. But we’ve also got to work extensively with national bodies on the advocacy front. Individual universities can do some things, but I think the collective is much more powerful. That collective must find its voice. We also have to tell the story of higher ed as the ultimate soft power. Immigration issues are important, but student visas are not the central reason for the mess in immigration that we have. We’ve got to continue to educate the public about the issues around immigration and the extraordinary role international students have played in American prosperity. And when we recruit international students, we must support them, we must provide them with security and safety. A lot of what you’re talking about is us telling the story of why the university is important and why science is important. Have we not told that story? To some degree we have, and to some degree we have not. For example, I’ve been very surprised at the lack of understanding around what research funding is. The federal government is paying universities to do this research because it wants the results. It’s not a favor. They’re not paying our bills for the sake of being nice. They want the work that we’re doing. So I’ve got to ask whether we’ve ever really educated the public on how research is done in the country, how it’s funded, how it’s deployed. None of that appears to be clear. At the state level, we also need to tell the story that the university creates knowledge, but that this also has an economic impact in Oregon and the world. That’s the reason that we recently commissioned a study of the university’s economic impact. We’ve tried to tell the story there, and the numbers are pretty stunning.We have an impact of $3.5 billion a year on the state. For every dollar that the state spends on OSU, we generate more than $13.The multiplier is really big. That’s exactly the story we need to be telling. [Editor’s note: See page 18 for more about the economic impact report.] Is there anything else you’d like to share? We are here to provide education of the highest quality to every Oregonian who is capable and has the desire to take advantage of it.We have our mission of student access and student success. We will continue to pursue big ideas that lead to big solutions and that translate into use for society.We have a mission of service to the community as a land grant university. All of these ideals have been driving us for 150 years. They’ll drive us for 150 more. In the deeply turbulent and unstable environment we find ourselves in, we need the help of our alumni and our community to tell our story and to help us stay true to these values. THIS INTERVIEW WAS EDITED FOR CLARITY AND LENGTH. “THESE ARE VERY REAL LOSSES, NOT JUST FOR OSU, BUT ALSO FOR SOCIETY MORE BROADLY.” continued VO I C E S
Fall 2025 15 GARCIA: KARL MAASDAM, ’93; PINARD: COURTESY OF ZAC PINARD; ANDERSON: COURTESY OF CASEY ANDERSON; LEGARD: COURTESTY OF RACHEL LEGARD; TORRES: COURTESY OF MARCIA TORRES; PUGH: KARL MAASDAM, ’93 PERSPECTIVES JAVIER GARCIA, ’24 Software engineer, Atlassian After moving to New York City, I thought the toughest part of starting as a software engineer would be learning new programming languages, systems and tools. In reality, the bigger challenge was navigating ambiguity: balancing projects, managing time and making decisions without clear answers. College gives you structure, but sometimes the real world doesn’t. With each new responsibility and opportunity, I’ve relied on the solid foundation from Oregon State to help me learn, adapt and grow. ZAC PINARD, ’19 Research and GIS associate, Clean & Prosperous Institute I graduated in December 2019 and got a job in the state legislature for the three-month session. I supposed I would figure out my next step in March 2020. The pandemic sort of ruined that. I expected finding the first job out of college to be the biggest challenge, but really it was keeping my career on track while the world was shut down. My connection to the OSU community was instrumental in that. CASEY ANDERSON, ’14 Assortment planning manager, Nike I thought my biggest challenge would be landing a great job. Because I got involved with the OSU Design Network, I ended up getting interviews very quickly. What has been more challenging is staying energized and engaged. At OSU, I loved getting a fresh start every term and being able to try different things. But in my career, I need to fight the repetitiveness by volunteering on side projects and working in roles that are cyclical so that I still get those “begin again” moments. RACHEL LEGARD, ’19 Human capital senior consultant, Deloitte I thought my biggest challenge would be waking up early for my new nine-to-five after avoiding morning classes during my four years at Oregon State. But then COVID hit, and my commute to the office (aka my couch) got a lot shorter. The real challenge became figuring out how to navigate learning, networking and making an impact in a completely remote environment. MARCIA TORRES, ’01 Founder and principal consultant, Imagen Talent Solutions After graduation, I started at Anheuser-Busch as a brewing manager — despite not being a beer drinker! I assumed the product would be the challenge, but as a young, diverse woman leading teams old enough to be my parents or grandparents, the real test was earning trust and finding my footing in an unfamiliar environment. That experience taught me how to adapt, build credibility quickly, lead confidently outside of my comfort zone and learn from others’ experiences. DENVER PUGH, ’97 President, Pugh Seed Farm Inc. I had the security of already having a job when I graduated because I was headed back to the family farm, but I was nervous about starting over socially. It turned out that I not only maintained the friendships I’d fostered in Greek life at OSU, but also stayed in touch — and even worked on research projects — with former professors. My biggest challenges were learning how to work with family and integrating new ideas into a generational farm. DIVING INTO THE UNEXPECTED Q: “WHAT DID YOU THINK YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE WOULD BE AFTER GRADUATION, AND WHAT DID IT ACTUALLY TURN OUT TO BE?”
PHOTO BY FIRSTNAME LAST CREDIT TK 16 OregonStater.org NEWS
Fall 2025 17 PHOTO BY TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND/NICK GRIER AN EMERALD CLASSROOM Oregon State gains a new research forest outside Portland. The classroom just got 3,110 acres bigger for Oregon State forestry students. Gifted to the university in May, the Tualatin Mountain Forest is the 10th research forest managed by the College of Forestry and the first in the Portland area. Located west of the city’s Forest Park, and made up primarily of Douglas fir stands less than 40 years old, it offers a rare opportunity to study how to restore biodiversity, resilience and structure in a landscape previously managed for industrial timber. The forest also creates new possibilities for nature-based education, particularly for urban and underserved youth. “The Tualatin Mountain Forest will offer incredible opportunities for educational programming, public access and the co-identification of research and management priorities with tribes, including the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, on whose ancestral lands the forest is located,” said Tom DeLuca, Cheryl Ramberg Ford and Allyn C. Ford Dean of the College of Forestry. The Trust for Public Land acquired the private forestland worth $27.3 million with funding from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program, Metro Regional Government and private gifts, and then transferred ownership to OSU.The forest will be financially self-sustaining with all activities funded through revenue generated by sustainable timber harvests, grants and philanthropy. — Cora Lasson
18 OregonStater.org KARL MAASDAM, ’93 BEAVER BRAGS MILLION is OSU Athletics’ annual economic impact across the state in jobs created, visitor spending, ticket sales and more. 13 OSU students since 2007 have been named semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, honoring the nation’s top amateur baseball players. Shortstop Aiva Arquette made this year’s list. FIFTY consecutive seasons is how long OSU gymnastics has qualified for postseason competition. THE 1ST conference championship in the program’s history is what women’s rowing brought home this May in a decisive victory at the West Coast Conference Rowing Championship. $325.4 OSU’S IMPACT FELT ACROSS THE STATE THE UNIVERSITY INJECTS $3.5 BILLION INTO THE OREGON ECONOMY ANNUALLY, BUT FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS BRING NEW UNCERTAINTY. By Misty Edgecomb Oregon State University’s annual contribution to the state economy exceeds $3.5 billion and supports more than 22,000 jobs, according to an economic impact report released by the university in June. That equates to $13.18 in value returned to Oregon’s residents for every $1 invested by the state. These benefits are felt across the region, with $2.7 billion landing in the seven counties surrounding OSU’s main campus in Corvallis, $477 million in the Portland metro area and $120.9 million in Central Oregon, home to the OSU-Cascades campus in Bend. “We deliver tangible and purpose- driven impact to communities rural and urban. From the coast to the high desert, across Oregon’s forests, farms and fields, OSU is an engine for economic prosperity,” said President Jayathi Murthy, who shared the report’s findings at the Portland Metro Chamber’s annual meeting in June. Oregon State research is a significant part of that impact, providing $797.5 million in value (salaries, taxes and more) as well as 3,300 jobs.
Fall 2025 19 BY THE NUMBERS For every $1 invested by the state, OSU returns $13.18 in value to Oregon’s residents. Read the full economic impact analysis, conducted by Parker Strategy Group and based on fiscal year 2024 data, at beav.es/economic_impact. See the 2024 Research and Innovation Annual Report at beav.es/2024-research. OSU’s Research Funding Sources $370M federal agencies $36M state and local govts. $15M industry $14M nonprofits $11M land grant capacity funding $84K foreign governments OSU’s Top Federal Funding Agencies 6.2% Dept. of the Interior 19.6% Other federal agencies 27% Dept. of Agriculture 18.7% National Science Foundation 14.8% Dept. of Health and Human Services 13.7% Dept. of Energy Research Pays Dividends Oregon State made $422 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2024, generating $797.5 million in economic impact across the state. Number of federally funded research projects at OSU as of July: 2,362 E C O N O M I C S N EWS The university is one of the state’s largest recipients of federal research dollars, but the future of this funding is now uncertain, as the federal agencies that underwrite much of academic research nationwide drastically reduce their budgets. Of about 2,400 federally funded projects affiliated with OSU — worth $370 million in federal investment in fiscal year 2024 — 49 had been terminated as of July, with only 12 of those funding sources restored. A less-talked-about technical change to federal rules also poses a challenge to ongoing work. Grant recipients have traditionally been allowed to bill for the costs of maintaining research faculties and administrative support. However, several agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, have instituted a new caps on these overhead costs (all temporarily blocked by court cases). At Oregon State, the cost of this change would total tens of millions of dollars per year. “Research is not political. Scientists, economists, engineers and other innovators are developing solutions to problems that affect everyone. Federal research funds are also critical for future economic growth and development in our state,” said Brian Wall, OSU associate vice president of research innovation for economic impact. The university is advocating for federal funding to continue uninterrupted, as part of a group of the nation’s leading research universities that has filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of Harvard University’s lawsuit over frozen grant money. It has also filed declarations in two lawsuits brought by multistate coalitions against the termination of existing grants and changes to reimbursement caps. “When you think about innovation, entrepreneurship, research and development,” said Wall, “that’s the backbone of the Oregon economy, and that’s what we do here at OSU.”
20 OregonStater.org CREDIT TK B R I E F S N EWS ELECTRIC DISCOVERY Cheng Li, Ph.D. ’17, and Distinguished Professor Emerita Clare Reimers identified a novel species of bacteria that acts as electrical wiring, potentially ushering in a new era of bioelectronic devices for use in medicine, industry, food safety, and environmental monitoring and cleanup. The researchers discovered it in sediment samples from the Yaquina Bay estuary and have named it Ca. Electrothrix yaqonensis in honor of Native Americans of the region. AI CAN IMPROVE CREATIVITY A new study from Oregon State University indicates that artificial intelligence can significantly enhance creativity in student fiction writing, but only when instructors teach students how to incorporate it into the creative process. Researchers found that when students receive instruction on how to use AI, there was an increase in creativity over both their original writing and their AI use without instruction. “It took us less than 20 minutes of instruction to change the way students interacted with the technology,” noted lead author J.T. Bushnell, senior instructor in the School of Writing, Literature and Film. PHARMACY PROGRAM BOUND FOR PORTLAND Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy will relocate its Pharm.D. program primarily to Oregon Health & Science University’s Portland campus in 2026, expanding a long-established partnership that will create more opportunities for students. OSU and OHSU jointly award the Doctor of Pharmacy degree, which currently enrolls around 250 students. The partnership offers both institutions various academic, research and clinical connections within a shared space. WHERE SCIENCE MEETS STORY STEINBECK’S WESTERN FLYER SAILS THE SEA OF CORTEZ ONCE AGAIN. By Nancy Steinberg Jack Barth, professor of ocean- ography in Oregon State University’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, has been on a lot of ships in his time. He has deployed instruments and collected data aboard research vessels throughout the Pa- cific and Atlantic, with an emphasis on the California Current ecosystem that spans the U.S. West Coast. This spring, he set out on a research vessel like no other, on an incredible voyage that traveled as much through history as it did through the waves of Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. And it involved Oregon State people every step of the way. Barth spent two weeks aboard the Western Flyer, the California sardine fishing vessel chartered in 1940 for a sample-collecting trip by
Fall 2025 21 CREDIT TK PHOTOS BY PAT WEBSTER A R T S MARINE SCIENCE author John Steinbeck and his friend biologist Ed Ricketts easily identified as the character “Doc” in Stein- beck’s novel Cannery Row. Steinbeck’s documentation of the trip eventually contributed to the book he co-authored with Ricketts, The Sea of Cortez, from which the better-known The Log from the Sea of Cortez was extracted. After that expedition, the Western Flyer was put to work by many West Coast fisheries from California to Alaska, changing owners and names. For a time, it was lost to history. When it reemerged — twice sunk, dilapidated and waterlogged — in Anacortes, Washington, the Western Flyer Foundation was formed. Now chaired by Tom Keffer, Ph.D. ’80, the group lovingly restored the boat as a platform for research and education.After the restoration was complete, in 2023, the vessel sailed under a new captain, Paul Tate, formerly captain of Oregon State’s research vessel Elakha, to its old (and new) home in Monterey Bay. This March, 85 years nearly to the day after the Steinbeck/Ricketts expedition began, the Western Flyer returned to the Sea of Cortez (also known as the Gulf of California) to retrace the steps of its most famous journey.American and Mexican scientists partnered to plan science and education programs for the trip. The boat stopped at many of the original Ricketts sampling stations, and local communities welcomed the Flyer with celebrations along the way. Students came aboard for education programs. Barth serves on the board of directors of the Western Flyer Foundation, and he helped lead the installation of the vessel’s oceanographic equipment and plan the scientific aspects of the voyage. Aboard, he collected information about water temperature, dissolved oxygen, light penetration, salinity and more. He intends to compare his findings with the data collected by Rickets 85 years ago. “One thing that I try to get across to people is the sounds of the vessel,” he says. “There’s one phrase in the book about the wind going through the forward stay of the boat sounding like a deep organ note, but there’s hundreds of other tones, too — the wood shifting and creaking, and the slapping of the water. It’s a totally amazing experience.” For Barth, the trip was about connection to the past, and optimism for the future. He recalls the first time he stood on the bridge during the boat’s restoration. “I literally got a tingle down the back of my neck,” he says. Oregonians interested in seeing the Western Flyer in person should stay tuned: Barth says he hopes to organize a visit to Newport and other Oregon ports in spring of 2026. In the meantime, follow the boat’s adventures at westernflyer.org. ← FAR LEFT: The Western Flyer in the Sea of Cortez. TOP: Jack Barth talks with students. BOTTOM: Adrian MunguíaVega, the Mexican lead scientist for the expedition, with Barth. PRAx ANNOUNCES NEW SEASON The Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts has announced its 2025–26 season, which features an increased slate of events and exhibitions to keep its many venues booked and busy. Standout events include performances by artist-in-residence, percussionist and steel pan musician Andy Akiho, along with several performances and lectures exploring the season’s theme of “Arts + AI.” PRAx hosted about 160 events in its inaugural 2024–25 season. Center staff had projected they would sell 19,000 tickets in their first year. As of June, they were on track to sell more than 32,000. With many events selling out, one of the main goals of the new season was to expand ticket offerings so more people can experience more art, and to maintain a good balance between content that is joyful and content that is meaningful, said Peter Betjemann, Patricia Valian Reser executive director of the center and associate vice provost of arts and humanities. “Variety is the lifeblood of PRAx; no doubt about it,” Betjemann said. “We ask people to step outside of their comfort zone. If we can get someone to try out a genre of music they haven’t tried, at least once per year, that’s great.” Learn more and buy tickets at prax.oregonstate.edu. —Molly Rosbach → Harry Yeff’s Voice Gems visualizes the human voice. See him perform on Oct. 3 at PRAx.
22 OregonStater.org BEAVERHENGE: DAVID HENDRIX; MURTHY: OSU ATHLETICS; BEAVER CLASSICS CREAMERY: JASON DE LEON B O O K S INSTAWORTHY N EWS @oregonstate @OSUAgSci @beaverathletics Professor David Hendrix photographed the spring equinox light shining through the skybridge connecting Cordley Hall and the Agricultural and Life Sciences Building — a phenomenon he’s dubbed “BeaverHenge.” The new Beaver Classics Creamery and Tillamook Dairy Innovators Lab opened at Withycombe Hall this spring. President Murthy celebrated her birthday at Goss and got the best present ever from Beaver Baseball when they beat Florida State in the first thrilling game of the Corvallis Super Regional. 1. Alive Day by Karie Fugett, MFA ’18 When Karie Fugett married her boyfriend, she was a 20-year-old high school dropout, living out of her car in a Kmart parking lot. It was a marriage of both love and convenience. After her husband was severely injured during military service in Iraq, she suddenly found herself thrust into the demanding role of caretaker — navigating the less-than-helpful veterans’ healthcare system and his dangerous addiction to painkillers. Alive Day is both a love story and an unflinching debut memoir. Learn more: bit.ly/alive-day. 2. Mapping the Deep by Dawn J. Wright, ’25 (Hon. Ph.D.) Take a journey to the most unexplored place on earth with oceanographer and courtesy appointment OSU faculty member Dawn J. Wright, the first Black scientist to visit Challenger Deep. Named one of the journal Nature’s 10 essential science reads of the year. Learn more: bit.ly/mapping-deep. 3. When We Go Missing by April Henry, ’83 From prolific mystery writer April Henry comes a story about a teenage photographer who stumbles across a camera card filled with pictures of young women — some of whom have gone missing. Henry’s last book was a 2025 Oregon Book Award finalist. Learn more: bit.ly/stay-dead. 4. Children of Darkness and Light by Lori Hellis, MFA ’18 From retired criminal lawyer Lori Hellis comes a searching look at the infamous Vallow-Daybell murders — a series of deaths linked to a Mormon fundamentalist doomsday cult. Learn more: bit.ly/children-darkness. 1 2 4 3 BOOKS BY BEAVERS
RESEARCH Fall 2025 23 PHOTO BY HALEY NELSON A DOSE OF NATURE Getting outdoors vital for mental health. Outdoor recreation isn’t just about having fun, it’s also a public health necessity, according to Oregon State University researchers. A study from OSU’s HEAL research lab found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people who spent more time outdoors reported better mental health. “Even after controlling for numerous COVID-specific risk and protective factors, outdoor recreation emerged as an important protective factor for mental health during the crisis,” said Assistant Professor Xiangyou (Sharon) Shen, director of the lab. The findings have policy implications. During the pandemic, many public spaces such as playgrounds and parks were closed to limit virus spread — a move Shen suggests should be reconsidered in future crises. Policymakers, Shen said, “should prioritize outdoor recreation access with the same urgency they apply to other essential health services.” — Steve Lundeberg
CREDIT TK 24 OregonStater.org R E S E AR C H BRANCHES OF STEEL Each of these 34 steel Y-shaped columns stands 55 feet tall, mimicking trees as they support the massive roof. Special kinds of “shock absorbers” called seismic isolation bearings atop each column will let the roof shift up to 2 feet during an earthquake. This, plus 150-foot-deep foundations and curtain walls that move with the roof, will allow the terminal to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Hoffman Skanska Joint Venture, which employs 16 OSU alumni, led construction of the Y columns. LATTICED TIMBER CEILING Inspired by local weaving techniques, the lattice is made up of 35,000 3-by-6-foot pieces of Douglas fir, which can all be traced back to their forests of origin. The lattice wood came from Oregon and Washington small family forests, local tribes, nonprofits, community forests, university forests and other landowners practicing ecologically driven forestry. A MULTITIERED ROOF The biggest challenge, says Dan Gilkison, ’95, director of engineering for the Port of Portland, which led the project, was installing the roof without disrupting airport operations . Crews built it in modules across the airfield and carefully slid each into place like a cassette — a feat never done before. “It was like running a marathon and doing open-heart surgery,” Gilkison says. “But we didn’t cancel a single flight.” KPFF Consulting Engineers, which includes two alumni, designed and proposed the roof. MASS PLYWOOD ROOF PANELS Freres Engineered Wood supplied the roof’s mass plywood panels (not visible here), a product that company vice presidents Tyler and Kyle Freres first envisioned on a trip to Europe with OSU professors. Under the leadership of JELD-WEN Chair of Wood-Based Composites Science Arijit Sinha, OSU collaborated with Freres to develop the first panels. The Department of Wood Science and Engineering and the TallWood Design Institute tested the panels used on the PDX roof.
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