PSU Magazine Summer 1990

A New Future at Portland State Becoming PSU president brings new challenges to Dr. Judith Ramaley and new vision to the University. As she delights in saying, "I'm not in Kansas anymore." P ortland State University has a new president - a visionary, a scientist, an administrator with urban university experience, a woman . Judith A. Ramaley will become the sixth permanent president of Portland State University on August 1. She was selected by the State Board of Higher Education on April 22 following a national search with an initial field of more than 200 candidates . She is the first woman president of an Oregon State System of Higher Education campus. Dr. Ramaley (pronounced Rah-MAY-Jee) is currently executive vice chancellor for the University of Kansas in Lawrence, a university with 25,800 students and regional centers in Kansas City and Topeka. The university also has a medical center in Kansas City and a regional medical center in Wichita. As leader of the Lawrence campus since 1987, Ramaley was responsible for establishing a new educational facility to provide academic, research and service activities for the metropolitan Kansas City area. She has served in administrative posts at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Albany, the University of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A scientist who specializes in studies of puberty, Ramaley earned a bachelor's degree in Zoology from Swarthmore College and a doctorate in Anatomy from UCLA. She is the author or editor of three books, including "Covert Discrimination, Women in the Sciences ," and 65 articles on the control of puberty onset, stress and fertility, and the development of biological rhythms. She has held teaching appoint– ments in biology and physiology at University of Kansas, SUNY, University of Interview by Katluyn Kirkland Nebraska Medical Center and Indiana University. Administrators, faculty members , and students in Lawrence have described her as "a strong leader who can make decisions quickly, a talented problem solver and a gifted communicator whose keen sense of humor seems to come out when it 's needed the most. " Ramaley is an ardent advocate for the urban university mission and a firm believer in the value of public and private cooperation in achieving that mission . President Ramaley will report on her progress at Portland State in future PSU Magazines. The following are excerpts from a recent interview. Q: How does it feel to be the first woman president in the Oregon state system? A: I am enjoying being a part of history. It is also exciting to be part of this university at this time in its development. How approp– riate for Portland State to be the institution that makes this decision! Because the whole institution is built on different ways of bringing together talent in the community. Q: How would you like to see PSU develop? A: Across the country there is a kind of institution emerging in the major metropoli– tan areas. There isn't even a clear name for it yet, but most people call it a major urban university. This kind of institution draws its strength and its inspiration from the urban area , and first and foremost responds to the needs of the urban area. It is a research institution , a teaching institution and an institution that prides itself on its service to community. Urban universities are appearing in the 25 or 30 major metropolitan areas across the country. Portland is one of those communi– ties and PSU is one of those institutions . Much of the energy and direction of the state flows toward Portland, and our community and our university will play a very important role in Oregon's future. I like to say that the way to build Portland State is to serve the research, teaching and service needs of the Portland metropolitan area. As Portland thrives, so will we. Q: Can PSU fulfill that role alone? A: One of the key roles of Portland State is to reflect , in its academic programs and in its research mission , its involvement with the community. But we must do so in collabora– tion with other institutions in the Portland area and around the state. For instance, the opportunities of tying together Portland State and Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in a set of programs on public health, the administra– tion of health facilities, and major questions of health education are enormous . I'm sure we'll see many possibilities involving not only PSU and OHSU but several private institutions, including Oregon Graduate Institute, Lewis and Clark, Reed and the University of Portland. Another very PSU 1