PSU Magazine Fall 2000

We met in college-both ofus the first in our families to attend a university. Everything we've accomplished since can be traced to our opportunity to earn college degrees. We know through personal experience that education is synonymou with oppor– tunity, and the quality of education determine the quality of life in our state. After graduation, career paths opened up to us. Marilyn worked for First Interstate Bank (now Wells Fargo) for 22 years. The bank encouraged continuing education and assisted her in earning a master' degree, which opened the doors to teaching part time at Portland Community College. Marilyn's experience speaks to the changing oppor– tunities for women in education and business. She was the only woman in most of her business courses in the early '70s. Today, the gender ba lance in busi– ne s courses at PSU is at lea t 50-50, and Portland tate students are increasingly diverse in other ways as well. A university degree opened the door to Ray' career a a CPA. An accounting professor at PSU for the past 20 years, he has also served as a consu ltant to the Auditing Standards Board and as pre ident of the Oregon ociety of CPAs. Ray is proud to be part of the nationally recognized accounting program at PSU. "I've seen incred ible growth in the accounting profe ion change over the past 20 years. The number of CPAs in Oregon has doubled, and the quality of those CPAs is highe r than ever. An accounting degree i an incredibly rich way to learn how organizations work, especially in a multi-disciplinary program like PSU's. It' truly a high– way to a wide range of ca reer opportunities." A university education offered us many opportunities that were not open to our parents. Many PSU students are first-generation, which re onates with us. Portland State students are extremely motivated-taking on a lot of challenges while working to build life-long learning habits. As we enter the knowledge economy, the opportunity for Oregonians to enjoy high-paying job and a high quality of life depend more than ever on the quality of higher education in Oregon. We want to hare our legacy of opportunity with others. Our giv ing, both now and through our estate plans, includes upport for accounting scholarships, the School of Business Administration, and other University-wide programs. To u , philanthropy isn't about money. It's about a better University, a better Oregon. That's why we give to and help P U's fund-raising efforts. We believe that because Portland State give tudent a crucial blend of libera l and professional education, it is the University of the future. 1\qy and cMarilyn Johnson • • • P 0 RTL AND STATE U N I V.E R SIT Y 0 ~FI CE 0 F DEVEL 0 PM ENT •!• 5 0 3 - 7 2 5 • 4 4 7 j ~