204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331-6303 SPRING 2025 FEATURE 1 • FEATURE 2 FALL 2026 AMONG THE TREES Discover the (sometimes surprising) story of Oregon State’s campus trees. FALL 2026 THE SEARCH FOR SECRETS IN ANCIENT ICE INTRODUCING THE NEW PAC-12
CREDIT TK FOR LEWIS SEAGRAVES, ’61, an OSU degree in mechanical engineering launched a lifetime of meaningful work. To help future generations of mechanical engineers achieve their dreams, he created an endowed scholarship that honors the memory of his late wife, Carol. During their 56 years together, the couple saw students struggle with financial barriers — experiences that continue to inspire Lew’s generosity and his desire to help meet society’s growing need for engineers. As part of a carefully considered estate plan, Lew named the OSU Foundation as a beneficiary of his IRA. Using retirement assets is a simple and tax-wise way to plan a bequest that will make a lasting impact at OSU. Contact me to learn more. Jennifer Milburn Office of Gift Planning | 541-231-7247 Gift.Planning@osufoundation.org Engineering a bright future. Lewis Seagraves’ gift will support mechanical engineering students like senior Meira Griffel (above), who plans to earn a master’s degree, then pursue a career in space robotics.
Fall 2026 1 PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 In Every Issue C ON T E N T S On the Cover ← Our writer Katherine Cusumano high above the MU Quad. Photo by Darryl Lai. 2 PHOTO ESSAY 4 EDITOR'S LETTER 5 PUBLISHER'S LETTER 6 LETTERS 58 IN MEMORIAM 64 BACKSTORY The magazine of the Oregon State University Alumni Association FALL 2026 THE QUAD VOICES P. 10 President Jayathi Murthy talks about research funding, enrollment numbers and a new era for Oregon State. NEWS P. 13 A landmark award will help expand Oregon’s semiconductor sector; alumni and friends rally around OSU sports; and more. RESEARCH P. 21 Can farmers harvest the sun’s energy twice? OSU scientists are studying how best to pair solar panels and agriculture. CULTURE P. 25 From a new Portland museum installation to Bend events, PRAx is taking its programming beyond Corvallis. SPORTS P. 29 The new Pac-12 is here. Get to know Oregon State’s colorful new competitors. OUR COMMUNITY ALUMNI NEWS P. 47 How one alumna helped bring the Artemis II moon mission to Earth; a new and inspiring crop of Alumni Fellows; and updates from alumni near and far. Under the Midnight Sun An Oregon State-led team and the search for secrets trapped in ancient ice. By Danielle Whittaker 32 Among the Trees Discover the newly accredited campus arboretum and the story of its trees. By Katherine Cusumano, MFA ’24 F E A T U R E S 42
2 OregonStater.org MOME N T S Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. After the creature washed up dead on the Southern Oregon coast in 2015, leaders of OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute pursued the rare opportunity to turn its Like a 180-piece puzzle of bright white bone, the enormous skeleton of a blue whale — the largest creature ever known to live on Earth — has finally come together for permanent display at Oregon State University’s MARINE MARVEL
Fall 2026 3 PHOTOS BY BRIAN HORNE AND MARK FARLEY PHOTO ESSAY from Alberta, Canada-based Dinosaur Valley Studios put the cleaned, restored and preserved skeleton back together again, bone by bone, in the courtyard of the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building. “The impact of the finished display is powerful and humbling,” said Lisa T. Ballance, director of the Marine Mammal Institute. “It will inspire everyone who sees it.” Learn more about visiting at beav.es/bones. —Michelle Klampe 5,500-pound, 70-foot skeleton into a resource for learning and discovery. Blue whales typically sink to the ocean floor after death and only a handful of their skeletons are on view in North America. This May, a team
4 OregonStater.org FROM THE EDITOR “I just hope this article isn’t going to make people want to come climb these,” Jimmy Swingle said as we stood at the base of three 130- to 140-foot giant sequoias on the Memorial Union Quad. Branches rustled above us. Little cones sprinkled down, followed by drifting flecks of bark. Campus police hadn’t noticed when Swingle used a crossbow to launch climbing lines into the trees the day before. But now our heaps of equipment and orange shirts were hard to ignore.An officer had already stopped by to make sure our operation was legit, somewhat reluctantly accepting that it appeared to be. “Don’t worry,” I told Swingle.“It’s alumni who read the magazine, not so much students. They know better than to climb a humongous tree without ropes and guides.” “Alumni,” he said with a skeptical laugh. “You mean like Eric and me?” We couldn’t see Eric Forsman, ’72, M.S. ’76, Ph.D. ’80, sitting high in one of the swaying sequoias, offering encouragement as our writer steadily made her way up a trunk. Forsman and Swingle, M.S. ’05 — a retired U.S. Forest Service scientist and a current one — teach a tree-climbing class for students who want to study life in the canopy, and for anyone else curious enough to try. And as is so often the case at OSU, both have résumés that make “tree-climbing instructor” an amusingly incomplete description. For starters, Forsman’s graduate research showed that spotted owls depend on old-growth forest, helping launch one of the fiercest environmental battles in U.S. history. On this summer morning, however, their task was to help us learn whether students had hidden anything high in the MU overstory. Katherine Cusumano, MFA ’24, was seeking the answer for her cover feature about OSU’s newly accredited campus arboretum (see page 32). For the Spring 2025 Stater, she descended into dark, cramped steam tunnels to explore the world below the Corvallis campus. Now we were eager to find out whether students had made a mark far above it, too. Once the drone following the climbers’ progress had risen high enough, we spotted some evidence. You can just make it out on this issue’s cover. Artifacts at 130 feet might be a bit unusual, but the impulse behind them is not. Every generation of students makes its campus its own, leaving mementos and forging memories in buildings and — as seems particularly fitting here in Oregon — the green spaces between. Maybe it’s the elms gone gold along an old familiar bike ride or an engagement beside the Trysting Tree. For former student Stacy Allison — the first U.S. woman to climb Mt. Everest — it was the Douglas-fir she scaled when she first started to dream about climbing mountains. Have any campus trees earned a special place in your memories of OSU? Drop us a note at stater@ osualum.com to let us know. And for the record: We are not encouraging anyone to climb the sequoias. But we may have just reminded a few alumni that they already did. Scholle McFarland Editor, Oregon Stater THE OVERSTORY Fall 2026, Vol. 111, No. 3 PUBLISHERS John Valva, executive director, OSUAA; vice president of alumni relations, OSU Foundation Jonathan Riley, ’09, chair, OSUAA Board of Directors EDI TOR Scholle McFarland DIGITAL & PRODUCTION MANAGER Travis Stanford GRADUATE ASSISTANT Cora Lassen, MFA ’26 ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Pentagram Austin, DJ Stout, 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 David Baker Vicki Guinn, ’85 Tyler Hansen Colin Huber, ’10 Tim Jensen Jennifer Milburn, ’96 Brian Monihan, ’86 Bill Reader, ’83 Lori Rush, ’78 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.
Fall 2026 5 OFF I CERS Chair, Jonathan Riley, ’09 Vice Chair, Keith Leavitt, ’88 Treasurer, Jay Boatwright, ’78 MEMBERS Derek Abbey, ’99 Casey Anderson, ’14 Brett Beals, ’87 Dom Biggi, ’88 Sara Boraston, ’15 Josh Dunlap, ’03 Neil Fernando, ’97 Leslie Fox, ’82 Vicki Guinn, ’85 Gabrielle Homer, ’88 Jason Hower, ’06 Colin Huber, ’10 Conrad Hurdle, ’96, MAT ’97 Jon Isaacs, ’97 Dan Jarman, ’88 Kelley Kaiser, ’93, MPH ’99 Charlene McGee Kollie, ’04 Jayathi Murthy, OSU president, ex officio Candace Pierson-Charlton, ’73, Ed.M. ’02 Denver Pugh, ’97 Rachel Rawson-Chatterje, ’12 Shawn Scoville, OSU Foundation president and CEO, ex officio Ethan Shaw, student representative, ex officio Dorian Smith, ’09, MAIS ’17, Ed.D. ’25 Alan Thayer, ’81 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 ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOÃO FAZENDA FROM THE PUBLISHER In 2023, OSU launched FEARLESS (beav.es/fearless) to do something about it. This campaign raises funds for OSU women’s sports, and through its events and activities, Hanna and I have been introduced to coaches, administrators and student-athletes. Each one we’ve met chose OSU because of its special mix of positive culture and competitiveness. And at the very moment that many of us worry whether the soul of college athletics is forever lost, they can help us rediscover the inspiration, excitement and satisfaction of sports fandom. In the past year alone, OSU women have competed at the highest level across nearly every corner of athletics. To share a few examples: Gymnastics made its 51st consecutive NCAA postseason appearance, the longest active streak in women’s college gymnastics. Women’s rowing won its second consecutive conference championship. Women’s golf earned a berth in the NCAA Championship. Women’s basketball reached its 12th recent postseason appearance, track and softball student-athletes broke all-time school records, and volleyball is recruiting at its best rate in years. Off the field, 90% of female student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or higher. They completed 62% of OSU Athletics’ total volunteer hours and led all of OSU’s Athletics’ student clubs. This leadership was on full display in June when Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey served as OSU’s commencement speaker. In a time of change, the remarkable women of OSU Athletics give us so much to celebrate. For me, this is a reminder that fandom is not just about wins and rankings; it’s about showing up for young people who are giving their best, representing Oregon State with pride and inspiring the rest of us to do the same. That’s something to cheer for. John Valva Publisher, Oregon Stater During a family trip to Corvallis in 2018, my wife, Hanna Valva, ’97, introduced our son and me to our first game in Gill Coliseum. It was a Friday night, Top 20 women’s basketball matchup between No. 18 Oregon State and No. 7 Oregon. The experience was unforgettable. Led by Kat Tudor, the Beavs hit seven first-quarter three-pointers, igniting mayhem among the Gill faithful. That Ducks team featured All-American Sabrina Ionescu, so they wouldn’t back down. Ionescu scored 35, while Tudor countered with 34. The game went into overtime, with OSU prevailing 85-79. Fans lingered after the buzzer, cheering as if they could make the moment last. As we left campus that evening, we talked about how the players and coaches seemed to know the fans — grade school girls and grandmas alike. This was not just fans celebrating a win; it felt like family. I was hooked. Months later, when an alumni relations role at Oregon State opened up, no one needed to sell me on the bond here. I had just experienced it. In the years since, much has changed in college athletics. While pundits lament the chaotic state of college football, I think we all recognize the disproportionate impact these changes have had on student-athletes in other sports. And I’ve wondered whether there’d be more magical moments like that night at Gill. SOMETHING TO CHEER FOR
6 OregonStater.org JEFFREY BASINGER L E T T E R S The wonderful “Stories from the Suit,” by Kip Carlson, brought back many memories. My friend the late Ken Austin was the first, of course. I wanted to share another story about “The Beaver.” My father, Doug Chambers, ’41, was the first student to don a beaver costume. The year was 1938, when, as a sophomore, the future ASOSU student body president paid a local seamstress $12.50 to create a costume complete with a 4-foot stiff tail for a skit performed at Portland’s Multnomah Stadium, during halftime at the Washington State vs. Oregon State football game. The skit was elaborately planned. Doug, who had summered in Southeast Oregon as a cowboy, and four of his Kappa Sig fraternity brothers were the “actors.” The script called for the group to be seated at a card table playing cards at midfield. At the signal, the table was to be overturned and the other actors — suited up as other school mascots — were to scatter, with Doug giving chase. He was to lasso them and return them to a “pen.” My dad lassoed the Cougar followed by the Bear and the Huskie, but Idaho’s Vandal was elusive. Dad said: “My friend had been tailgating a little aggressively and kept running away — even going up into the bleachers — all while hiding his face under hisVandal cape.”The skit ended with my dad exhausted and only three actors in the pen. Unsuccessful skit but a great story. Our family has five generations of Beavers: 1916, 1941, 1970, 2000, and now my granddaughter is in her first year at Oregon State. —CRAIG CHAMBERS, ’ 70 BEING THE BEAVER So few pages, so many great Benny and Bernice stories. Inspired by the topic of our Spring 2026 cover feature, readers shared memories of runaway mascots, laundromat mishaps, ski-race triumphs, duct-taped tails and even an unforgettable Oprah encounter. We’ve also been delighted to hear that our cheeky Benny centerfold now adorns offices, playrooms and labs everywhere. Send us photos of yours! ↗ The original Benny, Ken Austin, with Benny (Erica Heuer) in 2013.
Fall 2026 7 OSU SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES ↗ In 1938, a Benny predecessor made a special appearance at a football game. I received the Oregon Stater in the mail today and was thrilled with the cover of the various Bennys and Bernice, of course, as well as the article. I was Benny in the 1985-86 school year and was Benny/Bernice in the 1987-88 school year. Football was a little weary, but A.C. Green, José Ortiz and Gary Payton made basketball so exciting. I traveled to the NCAA tournament as well as the Pac-10 games on the West Coast. It was an absolute blast. Keeping it secret was a challenge, but that was easy to overcome after a while. The side stories will crack you up. Back in the day, I had to take the costumes to the laundromat. The first time around, we put too much soap in the washer and flooded the place. (Made for very clean costumes.) The owner went berserk until we told him what we were washing. (Top secret, of course.) He said he would keep mum as long as we got his assistance to wash the uniforms in the future. We went to Colorado for a Mascot Ski Race put on by the University of Colorado, Boulder. There were about 35 mascots, two of us being female. (The other was the Lobo from New Mexico.) It took a bit to be included with the others, but when I got second in the ski race, I got “confirmed” as a real mascot by the others. [Editor’s note: Watch video footage at beav.es/mascot-race.] The second time I went, we had both the Benny and Bernice costumes, and the tail was about 20 pounds of steel. When I tried to get off the chairlift, my tail got stuck. I went around the “roundabout” hanging by my tail. It was rather humorous. We got to the top of the mountain on future runs using a snowmobile. Like you said, the stories can go on and on. I’m still a true believer: My license plate is BNYBVR. My favorite color is orange. Thanks for a great article. —BETH (GIERS) JOHNSTON, ’88 My all-time favorite thing I did as Benny was the football game for Benny’s birthday when I rode into the stadium with Ken Austin. I just remember standing in the middle of Reser Stadium with the whole stadium singing “Happy Birthday” to Benny. I felt so honored to be a part of something so amazing. I got to do a number of events with Ken, and he was always so kind. It was funny because I would stick to the rule and I wouldn’t speak, not even to him, and a friend of mine told me he told that story years later. I actually never got to meet him out of costume, and I regret that because I would have loved to hear some of his stories. —ERICA (BLOCH) HEUER, ’ 14 I read your article on Benny Beaver with fervor, as I am a Benny Beaver alumnus. I was associated with Alpha Phi Omega, an all-male service fraternity associated with the Boy Scouts ofAmerica.As a junior, I noted that the cloth suit worn by Benny was absolutely horrible, with the crotch at the knees and poorly fitted. I came up with the idea to finance a replacement suit, so we approached the home economics club for someone to sew the suit. Up stepped Ann Hall, who sewed it together in the summer of ’65. The costume had a fiberglass head mounted on football shoulder pads, and the suit was a lightweight cotton to be cooler. I gave it to the Rally Committee, but about a week later, I was asked if I would wear the costume, as the man the chair originally picked was talking too much. (Remember the non-identity clause?) I did, and after the first game I realized the suit was still too warm. I recruited a friend, and we shared duties. This gave Benny much more attention, enough so that the athletics department paid for my friend to go to the basketball regionals in Los Angeles. RememberAnn Hall? She is now Ann Werner, and we have been married for 60 years this August, all because of a beaver. —ALAN WERNER, ’66 Prior to the start of the Civil War game, Benny and I — already in Bernice costume — headed out across the playing field from the locker room/dressing room to get to our fans who were tailgating in the parking lot. The Oregon band was practicing on the field, and we did as mascots do — we started to dance — while the whole band circled us! It started out as friendly and fun, and it was great “fellowship” with our rivals. Then my tail snapped and fell off — a big, heavy metal tail. I fell “MY FATHER, DOUG CHAMBERS, ’41, WAS THE FIRST STUDENT TO DON A BEAVER COSTUME.”
8 OregonStater.org COURTESY OF ALAN WERNER, EVAN THOMSON AND SARAH CUNNINGHAM to the ground laughing hysterically, and the band stopped playing and dispersed. Bahaha! I think they were unsure what to do with me. So Benny and I ventured out to the parking lot — me cradling my tail like a baby in my arms — and we found then-head men’s basketball coach Jimmy Anderson’s motor home. His wife was able to reattach my tail — ironically enough, using duct tape — and I was back in business. —HOLLY DEEMER, ’96 Graduation of 2017 was a long day. Everyone kept saying, “Oprah was here!” My handlers at the time were great, and I had a little bit of time to kill. So we all kind of said, “Hey, let’s go try and meet Oprah!” She was up in the premium seating. There were a couple of cops for security around her. I motioned to a cop to take a picture, and from what I recall he shook his head no. I just walked closer, and she finally noticed Benny and said, “All right, let’s take a picture!” I went over to her section and gave her a hug, and a ton of people were taking their phones out to take pictures. She was very happy to do so, and then we said our goodbyes. As I’m walking out, she and her entourage were like, “Wait, Benny! We want to take another picture!” and it was my impression that this time it was on Oprah’s personal phone. I came back, and we took another photo that she ended up posting on her Instagram account. Very cool story and so unique. —EVAN THOMSON, ’ 19 I recently received the Oregon Stater Spring 2026 issue. The information about Benny and Bernice Beaver is fun-filled entertainment! I am also inspired by the creative collaboration between editor, writer and photographer! Thank you for the “Best of the Best” all these years! —CORDELIA BLAKE, ’63 Welcome Reminders I was delighted to see my father’s name mentioned in the Spring 2026 Oregon Stater article “Poet Laureate of the Locker Room.” My dad, Eugene “Gene” Winters, ’50, was given credit for giving William Robertson his nickname of “Ropes.” Dad also served in the 10th Mountain Division, 87th Mountain Infantry, at the same time as Mr. Robertson. This was likely where the two men became acquainted. You might be interested to know that my dad was a proud OSU graduate who went on to serve Oregonians through the OSU Extension Service as a wheat, crop and soil specialist. He retired in 1980 after more than 20 years as an extension agent, taking assignments in Clatsop, Douglas, Jackson, Morrow and Wheeler counties as well as two stints in Amman, Jordan. The article reminded me of listening to my dad share memories and stories about his life. Such remindL E T T E R S ers are precious since he’s no longer here with us. Thank you. —STEPHANIE WINTERS ENGLE, ’84 Corrections: In the article “Organizing for OSU,” we stated that Oregon ranks 36th for public university funding. That ranking is actually for the state’s total public investment in higher education, including community college funding. For public university funding alone, Oregon ranks 46th in the nation. In the article “Stories from the Suit,” we added an errant “p” to former Benny Evan Thomson’s last name and an extra “r” to Darin Paine’s first name. We apologize for the mistakes. Send letters to stater@osualum. com or go to OregonStater.org/ connect. We edit for clarity, brevity and factual accuracy. Please limit letters to 225 words or less. FRESH-CUT COVERS We loved seeing these gorgeous paper flowers, made from Oregon Stater covers by Sarah Cunningham, Ph.D. ’12, OSU senior instructor of anthropology and leader of the Food in Culture and Social Justice program. The bouquets served as centerpieces at a spring Empty Bowls benefit at McNary Dining Center in support of OSU’s Basic Needs Center. If you’ve reused the magazine in a creative way, please send pictures! ↖ Alan Werner peeks out from an early Benny costume in the mid-1960s. ↗ Oprah’s first trip to Oregon included a welldocumented hug from Benny (Evan Thomson).
Fall 2026 9 PHOTO BY KAI CASEY T H E QUAD A proud new graduate and her even prouder family at June’s commencement ceremonies. INSIDE VOICES P. 10 NEWS P. 13 RESEARCH P. 21 CULTURE P. 25 SPORTS P. 29
10 OregonStater.org KAI CASEY VO I C E S ↑ President Murthy celebrating the Class of 2026 at this June’s commencement. Follow her on LinkedIn. ON A ROLL PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES IN TURBULENT TIMES. As told to Scholle McFarland The National Science Foundation just announced that an OSU consortium will receive $160 million to advance semiconductor design, manufacturing and workforce training. How big of a deal is this, and what does it say about OSU’s role in the state’s future? It’s a big deal. We are the largest university in Oregon. We are its land-grant university. This underlines the role that we play across the state of Oregon.We not only educate new generations of Oregonians, but also drive discovery and the translation of discovery into useful work. This is exactly what we want to be doing — bringing federal dollars to Oregon and using those dollars to create prosperity for Oregonians. Fifteen percent of our nation’s workforce in semiconductors already sits right here in Oregon. The FAST grant will help us grow and modernize that workforce. So it’s a big transformation. We estimate that this effort will add 25,000 new jobs to the region and 180 new startups over the next decade. OSU and our academic partners believe that we can add 4,000 graduates a year to the workforce by the end of this project. We’re planning to do some very big things. [Editor’s note: Learn more about FAST on page 14.] This news comes during a time of major milestones, including the upcoming opening of the JenHsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex. Do you see OSU entering a new era? The Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex will be the heart of artificial intelligence at OSU and at the heart of AI across Oregon.We’ve been thinking about what’s special about AI in Oregon and what’s special about AI at OSU. And I will tell you that the confluence of AI plus everything Oregon is what’s gotten us excited. It’s AI and agriculture, AI and farming, AI and forestry, AI and oceans and rivers, and of course all the other things that OSU does so well.AI and robotics, for example. We’re thinking about how we can create these verticals in the Huang Complex and about the role that OSU can play in bringing constructive use of AI to Oregon. How can we be at the heart of understanding where AI can be helpful? How can we support its use in constructive and useful ways? What may seem unrelated, but which is related in all kinds of interesting ways, is that we’ve also just hired Kevin Griffin from Ohio State to be our new athletics director. He brings dedication to student- athletes, real expertise in revenue generation, strategic communication and branding, which are all going to be key to another new era for
Fall 2026 11 BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY; OSU-CASCADES; OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY PERRY HYSTAD Associate Dean for Research, College of Health My lab examines how pollen and other allergens affect people with COPD, a serious lung disease. For someone with COPD, a high-pollen day is more than an inconvenience; it can increase the risk of a flare-up leading to hospitalization. Our research allows us to turn environmental data into practical tools, including clearer public messages, more personalized clinical treatment decisions and timely alerts. As climate change makes pollen seasons longer and more intense, this becomes even more important. MOLLY MORAN Assistant Clinical Professor, College of Education & LUCY PURGASON Associate Professor, College of Education Our federally funded PATHSC program is vital because many students in rural communities lack access to a school counselor when they need one most. We prepare graduate students and train supervisors who mentor them, ensuring that counselors feel prepared and supported in their roles. By strengthening this workforce pipeline, we help fill hard-tostaff positions and ensure that more students have access to critical guidance at pivotal moments in their lives. Oregon State.And interestingly, he brings an interest in athletics plus AI, which we’ve only just begun to think about. A lot of things are coming together all at once. Can you give an example of athletics plus AI? Say a student-athlete is injured. Given the history of their health, can we figure out if they can play the next time around? What are the risks? Likewise, can we figure out the next play given the configuration on the field and the history of the players? There’s a big universe of possibilities.We’re going to have to find our way to using AI to our advantage and using it ethically as well. All these wins seem especially significant because this time last year we were talking about disruptions to research funding. What’s changed? We are on a roll, but federal funding challenges remain. The ground has certainly shifted. I am grateful that we didn’t see the big cuts that were proposed in the president’s budget. That support from Congress is really heartening. But the money also has to flow, and that’s been difficult.We’ll sort it out, and in many ways, we’ve been quite fortunate. FAST is a big example of how federal dollars are still flowing to us. The other thing I want to say is that priorities have shifted, but they’ve also shifted in directions that in some cases are quite good for OSU — for example, toward AI and robotics. Our approach has been to take advantage of the things that we can. We’re finding opportunities and being agile and creative. I remain very bullish on our areas of success. Have we seen the big cuts to climate science research that were feared? There’s certainly a pulling away of investments in climate science, and we see the fallout from that. But there are related areas that we can focus on. So for example, a lot of our geosciences folks are now talking about work in critical minerPERSPECTIVES THE CASE FOR SCIENCE Q: WHY DOES YOUR FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH MATTER? PRESIDENT Q + A als. Can there be clean ways of harvesting critical minerals? Are there chemical processes that we could be doing better? All of these things are pathways for us. They’re related to the science that we do and related to the kind of expertise that we have — just applied in a somewhat different way and a somewhat different field. There’s always good, deep science to be done. There has been a lot in the news about the financial pressures facing Oregon public universities, and alumni are undoubtedly wondering how OSU is faring. How would you describe our position? There are big demographic challenges facing all universities — the number of college-age students is falling — and, of course, the federal landscape continues to evolve in terms of research dollars. But what is unique to Oregon is that while these things are broadly true across the United States, our state funding is chronically low, and labor costs here are particularly high. Balancing those costs with revenue from tuition has been a challenge in our state. We also face this, but unlike some Oregon universities, we’re not in crisis. We continue to see encouraging enrollment numbers, but we need to compete aggressively for continued growth. We are in a unique position because we happen to be invested in areas that continue to draw very heavy interest — engineering, STEM and so on. Our College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences is extremely well known. We are a premier school for “THERE’S ALWAYS GOOD, DEEP SCIENCE TO BE DONE.” continues
12 OregonStater.org VO I C E S agriculture and forestry. We have one of the largest engineering schools in the country. We have a big, highly ranked online program. We’re invested in areas that still draw enormous interest. I feel like our enrollment success is probably tied to that unique position. Public trust in American higher education is also at historically low levels. Do you think that’s affecting enrollment, too? I suspect that demographics is really the biggest part of it, but let me say something that I was struck by. You’ve probably heard of the Yale University report about public trust in higher education that came out this spring. It was a big report that took a year to write and had more than 300 sources. Much was made of it by the media. And yet, at the end of the day, what it calls for is for higher ed to commit to values that have been part of our land-grant mission for a century, if not more. I mean, we’ve been doing this forever, and for Yale to have woken up and suddenly discovered that this is the secret! It just kind of had me laughing for a while. We’ve always been about impact in our communities for all Oregonians, regardless of geography. We’ve always known that discoveries matter. We’ve always known that we’ve got to be an engine for prosperity. So I don’t know why the folks at Yale suddenly realized that this is the magic formula, but I will tell you that our public land-grants are a treasure.We’ve always known what our role is. We’ve talked about challenges, but Oregon State’s alumni and friends have also stepped up recently in pretty extraordinary ways. What does that say to you about this community and the university’s future? First of all, there’s simply moral support, right? Our alumni and friends have been with us through extraordinarily turbulent times these past couple of years and I want to say how grateful I am for that support. Another part of it is, of course, philanthropic support. This year on Dam Proud Day, we raised about $4.1 million across 12,000-plus gifts.That is a very broad range of support and tells you how deeply committed our community is to this university. Thank you for that! This year we surpassed $400 million toward a $500 million fundraising goal for student success in our Believe It! campaign. It tells you so much about our community’s commitment to our students. I mean, that’s a heck of a number, and I’m so proud of it. There’s also the Valley Foundation’s challenge gift for athletics. This is $24 million, and we unlock it by raising another $24 million — $8 million every year for the next three years. I can’t begin to tell you how important that is in these days of college athletics reconfiguring itself. This funds revenue sharing for our student-athletes. It will allow us to build a competitive program in this new universe. With the transition to the new Pac-12 on July 1, it really puts us in an absolutely fantastic place. So thanks again to our alums for making that happen. [Editor’s note: Two more athletics gifts were announced after this interview. See p. 18 for details.] Is there anything else you want to share? We enter the new school year with enormous momentum. Lots of good things are happening. There’s no question that there are challenges ahead of us, but we are entering it with so much promise. So when you hear things about loss of confidence in higher ed and all of the challenges, know that we’ve got a very strong base from which we’re entering these turbulent waters. We’ve got great students and great professors. We’ve got great folks in athletics and we’ve got great administrators. We will see ourselves through.We are going to do just fine. THIS INTERVIEW WAS EDITED FOR CLARITY AND LENGTH. daaaaaaaaaaam. no added hormones. never given antibiotics. Ranching at Nature’s pace. continued
NEWS Fall 2026 13 PHOTO BY ETHAN SUZUKI STILL NO. 1 OSU racing team wins back-to-back championships. Oregon State University engineering students have done it again. Global Formula Racing won the Formula SAE Michigan Electric competition for the second consecutive year, and electrical engineering, as well as autonomous systems. Founded in 2009, the team gives students hands-on experience developing advanced electric race cars while collaborating across continents and disciplines. Guided by faculty advisor Joseph Piacenza, the team applies classroom learning to the demands of a real-world engineering challenge. The event added another chapter to its legacy as one of the nation’s most successful student engineering competition teams. —Owen Perry once again proving that its electric race cars are built for speed. The team, a collaboration between Oregon State and German university DHBW-Ravensburg, also captured first place in the inaugural autonomous car event, becoming the first champions in Formula SAE’s new category for driverless vehicles. The June wins at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, capped months of work by students who designed, built and tested the cars. Team members contributed expertise in mechanical An OSU engineering team’s autonomous car navigates the Formula SAE Michigan Electric 2026 competition in June.
14 OregonStater.org PHOTO BY INTEL N EWS BEAVER BRAGS 50% of OSU students graduate debt-free, versus 45% of public university grads nationwide, according to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. $400 MILLION has been given so far toward scholarships and other student success programs in OSU’s Believe It! campaign. The May 1 email might have seemed routine to most: “Your NSF Regional Innovation Engine proposal 2532464 is currently under review by the program office.” But for Rob Stone, it was anything but routine. He knew, after having worked at the National Science Foundation for four years, that the message meant there was a “99% chance” the proposal would be funded. Two months later, it was official. Oregon State University and nearly 100 partners had secured what could be one of the largest awards in university history: up to $160 million over 10 years from the National Science Foundation to accelerate semiconductor innovation and manufacturing in Oregon. The goal: help Oregon turn its semiconductor strengths into more discoveries, more startups and more good jobs. “This demonstrates OSU’s role as a leader and convener,” said Stone, the project’s interim CEO and principal investigator, as well as a professor of mechanical engineering. “It shows the power of our expertise “IT SHOWS THE POWER OF OUR EXPERTISE AND THE EXPERTISE OF ALL OUR PARTNERS IN DRIVING THE STATE FORWARD.” 6,341 students have graduated from OSU-Cascades since its founding in 2001. This year’s class of 377 students was the largest in campus history. THE 5TH largest engineering school by undergraduate enrollment, OSU’s College of Engineering ranks among the nation’s biggest according to the ASEE. and the expertise of all our partners in driving the state forward in a key sector like semiconductors.” The initiative, known as Frontiers of Advanced Semiconductor Technology, or FAST, brings together semiconductor companies including Intel, HP and NVIDIA; community colleges and universities; government agencies and economic development agencies; venture capital funds; and a range of nonprofits to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem statewide. It builds on the state’s semiconductor industry — often called “Silicon Forest” — which has been a major source of economic growth, FAST FORWARD A LANDMARK AWARD WILL HELP EXPAND OREGON’S SEMICONDUCTOR SECTOR. By Sean Nealon
Fall 2026 15 SEMICONDUCTORS exports and innovation. OSU’s history of helping to drive that ecosystem made it the project’s natural leader. More than 40 OSU faculty have expertise in semiconductors, leading research and collaborating with companies to advance chip design, performance and manufacturing. The university offers semiconductor workforce development programs, including online degrees and certificates. And for decades, OSU graduates have staffed semiconductor companies in Oregon and beyond. “Oregon’s semiconductor leadership was built through decades of innovation and collaboration,” said Gaby Cruz Thompson, research manager at Intel Labs. “To remain competitive for decades to come, we must continue investing in the ecosystem that makes that success possible.We see the FAST coalition, led by OSU, as an important convener of this work.” The award arrives as global deBY THE NUMBERS The Oregon State-led FAST initiative will bring as much as $160 MILLION of new federal investment over 10 years to the state. new jobs added to the region. new startups launched. 25,000 180 The Oregon semiconductor sector is currently worth $21 BILLION and employs nearly 30,000 WORKERS. ↙ The OSU-led FAST project brings together a wide variety of partners, including the tech companies Intel, NVIDIA, Siemens, HP and Tektronix. mand for semiconductors is rising rapidly, in large part because of artificial intelligence. At the same time, federal investment has expanded, and states are competing to attract and retain high-tech jobs. OSU launched FAST in 2022 to seize this opportunity. A year later, the consortium received $1 million from the NSF’s Regional Innovation Engines program to further build partnerships and develop initiatives focused on research and preparing students for jobs in the semiconductor industry. In 2024, NSF advanced FAST to the full proposal stage, allowing the team to compete for the award. With the new funding, FAST will focus on three key priorities: • Identifying the semiconductor industry’s needs and accelerating research to meet them. • Helping startups by connecting entrepreneurs, investors and semiconductor companies. • Preparing workers for an industry that increasingly needs people with AI skills. Early momentum is already visible. Initial funding from NSF, combined with $8.5 million from the state, has supported: new workforce training programs that allow technicians in the industry to acquire additional skills; industry-backed research projects for scientists at OSU and the University of Oregon; and the creation of Oregon Semi Central, a website connecting Oregonians with semiconductor career, training and education opportunities. Pallavi Dhagat, an electrical engineer in OSU’s College of Engineering, has been involved with FAST from the beginning. She thinks the progress is encouraging but is most motivated by the long-term vision. “I have friends in Silicon Valley,” she said. “There, you lose your job, you walk down the road and you find another job. Or you start something new.That culture of innovation, where failure becomes a stepping stone, is what I hope to see here.” FAST GOALS FOR YEAR 10
16 OregonStater.org FINISH THIS SENTENCE: A year from now, I want to… » Find my next job. » Build my network. » Polish my résumé. » Mentor a Beaver. » Share my expertise at career events. » Host a student for job shadowing. OSU Alumni Career Support and 230,000+ Beavers in your alumni network can help you make it happen. ForOregonState.org/Career Connect with us to get started:
CREDIT TK YEAR-ROUND OPPORTUNITIES FOR 1–1,000+ » Football tailgates » Alumni gathering » Private celebrations » Corporate entertaining Corvallis’ Top Event Venue — Flexible Spaces for Every Occasion. Book today: ForOregonState.org/Center OSUAA members get 10% off rentals! Multiple rooms available to rent, including newly renovated Board Room + Balcony overlooking Reser Stadium!
18 OregonStater.org JOYNER: OSU ATHLETICS; MURTHY: HAYDEN CONNORS; GRADS: KAI CASEY BACKING THE BEAVS ALUMNI AND FRIENDS RALLY BEHIND A NEW ERA OF OSU ATHLETICS. By Caley Henderson, MFA ’23 The ground has shifted under college athletics, creating new financial pressures. But Oregon State University supporters aren’t just sitting back. Alumni and friends have stepped up to help the university navigate student-athlete revenue sharing, critical facility enhancements and the need to improve the game day experience. This support comes at a pivotal moment, as OSU prepares to compete in the new Pac-12, which launched July 1. “I am proud of the way we have come together to overcome these obstacles,” said OSU President Jayathi Murthy. “The present moment provides an opportunity for Beaver Nation to build on our legacy as fierce competitors who play to win.” One of the biggest changes is a new set of NCAA revenue-sharing INSTAWORTHY @ beaverathletics @oregonstate Men’s Basketball welcomed new head coach Justin Joyner to the team. Oregon State awarded degrees to a record number of graduates — 8,785 — at commencement on June 13. President Jayathi Murthy celebrated the Pac-12’s relaunch by suiting up in a jersey sporting the conference’s redesigned logo. @oregonstate
Fall 2026 19 PHOTO BY KAI CASEY ON A WINNING STREAK The Oregon Stater picked up five national awards this summer, including its first for overall excellence. The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) named the Stater among the country’s best, awarding it a bronze award for alumni magazines published three or more times a year. The magazine also won two writing awards: a silver for “OSU Below,” by Katherine Cusumano, MFA ’24, and a bronze for “6 Things You Might Not Know About OSU and AI,” by Keith Hautala, Cathleen Hockman- Wert, Scholle McFarland and Rachel Robertson. The Fall 2025 “Super Fans!” cover brought home silver awards from both CASE and the Society of Publication Designers (SPD). Becky Plante of Pentagram Austin created the design from photographs taken by Karl Maasdam, ’93, of more than 100 vintage Beaver buttons, pins and patches. The SPD recognition put the Stater in good company, alongside winners from The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and Rolling Stone. Go Beavs! —Stater Staff AWA R D S A T H L E T I C S nor families, led by an anonymous donor, recently committed a total of $25 million to build the university a new Field Sports Building. The facility will provide space for training, treatment, film study and more for 150 student-athletes in softball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s cross country and women’s track and field. Of course, facilities matter to fans, too. In June, OSU also announced an anonymous gift to fund improvements to Goss Stadium at Coleman Field. The $15 million right-field overhaul will add bleacher seating, upgrade spaces for spectators and build a clubhouse for the Corvallis Knights, the summer collegiate baseball team that shares the facility. Together, the three initiatives could direct as much as $88 million toward some of OSU Athletics’ most immediate competitive needs. Shawn L. Scoville, president and CEO of the Oregon State University Foundation, which led the fundraising efforts, said the support will help turn the challenges of a changing athletics landscape into opportunities. “The philanthropic momentum for OSU Athletics is real,” he said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for this group of donors leading the way, and to the thousands of other supporters and fans who show up for Beaver Nation in so many ways — with their own gifts or by wearing Beaver gear, purchasing tickets and tuning in on game day.” ← A high-flying member of Oregon State Cheer brings the spirit on Nov. 1, 2025. rules that allow Division I universities to pay student-athletes directly from athletic department funds. That creates a major new annual expense at a time when competitive programs already require significant investments in coaches, facilities and support services. Enter the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation. The Valley Challenge for Student-Athletes will support student-athlete revenue sharing: If donors contribute $8 million per year to OSU Athletics, the Valley Foundation will unlock an additional $8 million each year for up to three years. If fully matched, the challenge will generate $48 million to recruit and retain student-athletes. Access to top-notch facilities also makes a difference when student-athletes are trying to decide which program to choose. Ten do- “I AM PROUD OF THE WAY WE HAVE COME TOGETHER TO OVERCOME THESE OBSTACLES.”
20 OregonStater.org B O O K S N EWS 1. When the Forest Breathes by Suzanne Simard, M.A. ’89, Ph.D. ’96 Suzanne Simard’s international bestseller Finding the Mother Tree changed how readers think about the interconnectedness of trees. With her trademark blend of autobiography and science, the forest ecologist’s newest book explores how ecosystems adapt, recover and endure, and what the natural world can teach us about resilience and community. Learn more: beav.es/forest-breathes. 2. Joy Ride: A Bike Odyssey from Alaska to Argentina by Kristen Jokinen, ’09 Kristen and Ville Jokinen met and fell in love while scuba diving in Vietnam. After Ville left his native Finland to join Kristen in Oregon, the two set off on a two-year cycling adventure. With an introduction by Cheryl Strayed, Joy Ride follows their journey through hijinks, heartbreak and the life-changing power of the open road. Learn more: beav.es/joy-ride. 3. The Book of James by Eric Wayne Dickey, ’98, MFA ’09 This collection of poems tells the story of a brother who died young, weaving together a narrative that speaks to the oftentimes fraught nature of sibling relationships. Dicky is a John Anson Kittredge Fund for Individual Artists grant recipient and a Vermont Studio Center Fellow. Learn more: beav.es/ book-james. 4. The Rolodex Happenings by Dennis James Sweeney, MFA ’15 While sorting through his late father’s belongings, Guy Sutter Jr. discovers an old Rolodex full of surprises. Winner of the Stillhouse Press Novella Prize, Sweeney’s novella explores how little we can ever really know about the people closest to us. Learn more: beav.es/rolodex. BOOKS BY BEAVERS 1 2 3 4 B R I E F S BEND BEAVS’ NEW PLACE TO RECHARGE The Oregon State Legislature approved $42 million to remediate 24 acres of former landfill and build a new student health and recreation center at Oregon State University – Cascades in Bend. The roughly 40,000-square-foot facility will be the first comprehensive campus center dedicated to student health, wellness and recreation. Remediation is expected to begin in 2027. Learn more at beav.es/bend-rec. TEXT SUPPORT Oregon State launched Beaverly, an AI-powered text-messaging tool designed to connect students to information and support. Beaverly sends check-in texts to undergraduate students at key points in the term, offering resources when they’re likely to need them most. Students can also text Beaverly with questions. Drawing on a knowledge base curated by OSU staff, Beaverly can answer questions on a range of topics or refer students to humans for help. The tool is part of an effort to boost graduation rates by helping students avoid falling behind. Learn more at beav.es/beaverly. RIP ROBOTS June 11 was the last day to see flocks of little white six-wheeled robots trundling across the Corvallis campus on their way to deliver smoothies and sandwiches to hungry students. Starship Technologies has pulled its autonomous fleets out of U.S. college campuses to focus on delivery in urban markets and Europe. After debuting in 2019, the robots quickly became quirky campus fixtures, beloved by many for their cuteness and occasional misadventures, including a 2022 incident when one was famously hit by a train. Watch that video (again) at beav.es/ouch.
RESEARCH Fall 2026 21 PHOTO BY OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY HARVESTING THE SUN TWICE Inside the experiment to help farming and solar power work together. By Cathleen Hockman-Wert The grass was greener under solar panels. That simple observation set Oregon State University researcher Chad Higgins on a path to become a global authority in agrivoltaics: the practice of combining solar energy production with agriculture. More than a decade later, OSU is a world leader in this growing field, and Higgins — an associate professor in the College of Agricultural Sciences — is still focused on grass. But now his question is: What conditions always make grass greenest? The answer could be transformative for family farms, rural communities and a world with an exponentially growing demand for food and energy. Blueberries grow between rows of solar panels at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center near Aurora. continues
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