PSU Magazine Fall 1999

Endowment is growing The History Department rece ived its first-ever endowed fellowsh ip this year. The $ 100,000 gift from Concentrex, a provider of financial software, is indicative of the growth experi– enced-not just this year but for the past four years-in the entire University's endowment. With the support of alumni, friends, corporations, and foundations, the endowment has grown from $3 .3 million in 1996 to today's $9.3 million. Held by the PSU Foundation, the endowment is the principal from which income is derived for ongoing University needs such as scholarships and faculty appointments. The PSU Foundation received $9.3 million in revenue this past year for total assets of more than $2 1.2 million. Graduate students in history have Concentrex, a local software company with a national reputation, to thank for their new endowment. The company i committed to giv ing back to the community, according to its pres ident, Bob Chamness. "Ou r gift to history was simply a commitment to liberal arts, and the need for students to be well-rounded and broadly based," says Chamness. Grand Ronde Tribe gives to proposed new center A Native American Center on campus is one step closer to reality with a recent gift from the Grand Ronde Tribe. Through its Spirit Mountain Community Fund the tribe is provid– ing $250,000 for the main entry and amphitheater of the proposed 11 ,000- square-foot center. "As a tribe that was once terminated by the federal government, the Grand Ronde people know how important it is for all Native Americans to main– tain their culture and sense of commu– nity," says Ed Pearsall, Grand Ronde Tribal secretary and chairman of the community fund . "We're grateful to be able to help out by making this grant." 28 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1999 Gayle Schneider is the new director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Portland State. For the past eight years, she held a similar position at the University of Portland, where she helped raise funds for the construction of three new buildings, the renovation of two others, and the establishment of three endowed chairs. The University has raised $ 1.2 million toward the $3 million fac ility. The center, which will be located south of Shattuck Hall between Broadway and Jackson streets, will have a distinctive Native American design. The design team includes Don Stastny, who designed the Museum at Warm Springs; David Sloan (Navajo), who collaborated on the design of the Cultural Resource Center for the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, and Brian McCormack (Nez Perce), a landscape designer. In addition to acting as a commu– nity resource, PSU's Native American Center will support Native Americans in their pursuit of education-serving as a common meeting ground, and a site for culturally appropriate classes, lectures, workshops, and conferences. More than 15,000 Native Americans live in the Portland area, including 900 Grand Ronde tribal members. The Grande Ronde Tribe estab– lished the Spirit Mountain Community Fund to continue its age– old traditions of sharing and giving back. Each year, the Community Fund distributes 6 percent of the profits from the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Casino to causes uch as Life Flight, OMS!, the Portland Art Museum, Self- Enhancement Inc., Raphael House, and salmon and steelhead restoration projects. Engineering prof honored Colleagues and students honored retir– ing Professor Rolf Schaumann this past spring by contributing nearly $10,000 to an endowed scholarship fo r the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Schaumann served as chair of the department for the past 10 years. Dick Knight, president of SARIF Inc., and chair of the department's adv isory board, emceed a program in June highlighting Schaumann's contri– butions as a scholar and educator. Schaumann, who joined the faculty in 1988, is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Chi, and the Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of circuits and systems, filters, analog integrated circuits, modeling, and statistical circuit design. The work of Schaumann and his students has appeared in more than 120 publica– tions and several books. He holds two patents and has been a consultant to RTI, Honeywell, ADC Communi– cations, TopVu Technology, Sprague Electronic and other companies in the area of electronics and analog circuit design. Contributions to the Electrical and Computer Engineering Scholarship Endowment will be matched by the Schaumann's own contributions to the Rolf and Bianka Schaumann Scholarship Fund. D