PSU Magazine Winter 1998

Peter Stott ... Continued from page I Soon, he had three trucks, then six. Today Market Transport employs 350 peo– ple. He says, "I am still the chairman, but I've hired someone to run the company day-to-day." Peter has other fish to fry, namely Crown Pacific, a company where he's the president and CEO. Peter co-founded Crown Pacific in 1988. In less than a decade it has grown to over $480 million in annual revenues, employs more than 1,200 people, and has its ecuritie listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's annual report reveals an envi – ronmentally responsible company which acquires, owns, and operates timberlands and a sociated conversion facilities. C rown's timberlands cover 800,000 acres in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana and contain approximately 5 billion board feet of marketable timber inventory. The production capacity of its mills is in excess of 400 million board feet annually. Sitting aero a conference table from Peter, you can sense his energy and the commitment he has to Portland State. He is unequivocal about PSU. He sees his gift to provide athletic facilities and scholar– hips as one that will help PSU gain its deserved place among Oregon's major col– leges and universities. "Strong athletic programs bring visibil– ity to a university; look at Notre Dame with its football teams and Georgetown in basketball," he says. He believes such visi– bility results in better and better students and academic program . Peter envisions Portland State as a full-fl edged member of a Division 1-A conference. When the million-dollar gift was announced with med ia representatives present, Peter had his parents with him to receive some of the attention. He cred its their support and family values as giving him a solid foundation in life. He also cites athletics and the Army with helping to instill discipline and teamwork, charac– teristics that are nece ary in the business world. Though a footba ll linebacker and 220, 440, and 880 track man for Central Catholic High School teams, Peter didn't come to PSU to play sports. He worked hi way through PSU and points to others who are doing the same today. He likes the way the Univer ity attracts a broad spectrum of the citizenry to study on campus. It's an urban universi– ty, which is good not only for those who study on campus, but for the city of Portland . "Portland State attracts business to the area, and it has a substantial financial impact on the community," he says. Figuratively speaking, Peter would be labeled as a man on the run. But he liter– ally runs, too. Perhaps inspired some by his wife, Julie, a marathoner, he likes run– ning as well as skiing, golfing, and hunt– ing. His companies and hi school occupy his mind much of the time. He swings around in hi chair in a conference room at Crown Pacific and points to a half– dozen or so maps of the company's timber– lands. Then he's back to Viking athletics. He takes out a piece of paper and draws his vision of a practice field and communi– ty recreation area bigger than the one cur– rently on the drawing boards for Portland State. That' one reason why he not only gave a million dollars toward PSU's Division I campaign but agreed to serve as honorary chair of the fund -raising com– mittee. Who else could provide better leader– ship than Peter W. Stott? Total Gifts and Pledges 1992·1997 92-93 93-94 94-95 95·96 - Total gifts - Total gifts and pledges Donors help PSU to record year 96-97 Gifts both large and small made 1996-97 a year to remember for PSU. The graph on this page illustrates plainly the big boost in contributions over previous years. For l996-97, the black column represents nearly $5.2 mil– lion in gifts; the green column represents both gifts and pledges totaling $8.3 mil– lion. In comparison, the University raised just over $2.8 million in gifts in 1995-96. Individual gifts of as much as $ 1 mil– lion highlighted the year, but thou and of donors joined to produce a banner year for generosity to O regon's only urban university. Keren Brown Wilson and Michael DeShane Continued from page I Their assisted living concept is based on a unique social model rather than the model typical in most nursing homes. Through their approach, an elderly resi– dent's privacy, dignity, and choice are respected. Although specializing in the needs of the older among us, Keren and Michael also understand the needs of the young. G rasping the significance of beginnings, they have made a $1 million donation to the Urban Center and University Plaza, hoping that their example will spur others to make charitable contributions to PSU's highest priority proj ect. The gift is the second $!-million gift committed to PSU. It represents a looking back at their own PSU experience, espe– cially to their contact with Nohad Toulan, dean of the College of Urban and Public Affairs. Keren said, "Our education at Portland State has served us well person– ally, intellectually, and financially, and we're very grateful for that. We're firm believers in giving back. This is just a way to say thank you." Their gift also expresses their care fo r the future. According to Michael, "We both had great experiences in the College of Urban and Public Affairs, but a broad– er issue is Portland State's role within the state system. Given the urban focus of PSU and the creative things the University is doing in urban tudies, engi– neering and other areas, we firmly believe that Portland State represents the future of higher education in Oregon." Whether it is the end of a life or the beginning of a new educational future, Keren and Michael care. Portland State takes pride in the succe of the e alumni and their generosity.