PSU Magazine Summer 1987

-----·NEWSMAKERS·----- Appointment in Salem Articles and photographs by John R. Kirkland Fred Miller ('64) Di,rector, Executive Department As soon as Gov. Neil Goldschmidt took office thisJ anuary, he began surrounding himself with people he trusted and respected. Among his first appointments were the four Portland State University graduates profiled on these pages. Two are old pros and two are new to Salem, but all of them are excited about helping the governor bring about "Oregon's comeback. " Making complex issues easy F red Miller ('64), for as power- ful a position as he holds in state government, is surprisingly non-political. The 44-year-old head of the Executive Department and close adviser to the governor is motivated not by politics but by the challenge of management. "Government isn't necessarily as political as some might think," says Miller. "Much of my background is in making complex issues easy to understand." Miller's degree in economics from Portland State gave him the foundation for his successes in state government, which have included important posts in the Energy and Transportation departments and, now, in the Executive Department. "Economics provided a way of analyzing problems that has always been useful to me," says Miller. "As a discipline, economics forces you to see the advantages and disadvantages . .. to see both sides." Years of foreign travel have supplied Miller with additional perspective on his government work. As a doctoral student of economics at Michigan State University, Miller traveled to Argentina to write his dissertation on the impact of highway PSU MAGAZINE PAGE 10 improvements on that country's agriculture system. Having to pass up a job in Colombia because of a draft board restriction, Miller accepted a position as assistant I professor of economics at Oregon State University. Leaving little time to gather Oregon moss, the professor applied for and won a Fulbright teaching fellowship. Soon he and his wife, Janet, were packing their bags for Peru, where he taught economics at the University of Piura. That year-long experience was followed by the first of three semesters with World Campus Afloat, a program that takes students around the globe and exposes them to new sights and cultures. "Foreign travel always gives someone some perspective; you see things relatively," he says. "If we're analyzing a problem having to do with transportation, I can relate that to transportation systems in other countries. If we're looking at social problems, the magnitude and types of problems look a little different if you're comparing them with some of the situations you've seen in India or Peru." In 1972, Miller was invited to do some economic analysis for the