Portland State Magazine Fall 2015

FALL 2015 / VOL. 30 NO. 1 EDITOR Kathryn Kirkland WRITERS Harry Esteve, Bess Pallares, Suzanne Pardington PHOTOGRAPHERS Kelly James, Edis Jurcys, Peter Simon COPY EDITOR Martha Wagner DESIGN Brett Forman, Evan Kirkley LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 810 Market Center Building PO Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4451, fax 503-725-4465 psumag@pdx.edu ADDRESS CHANGES Please email psuupdates@pdx.edu or call 503-725-4948 ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE Tom Bull, Executive Director Simon Benson House 1803 SW Park Ave. PO Box 751 Portland OR 97207-0751 503-725-4948 psualum@pdx.edu PSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES Pete Nickerson, Chair Swati Adarkar Erica Bestpitch MS ’12 Gale Castillo MA ’74 Sho Dozono MS ’69 Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats Maude Hines Thomas Imeson Margaret Kirkpatrick Irving Levin Fariborz Maseeh ’80, MS ’84 Rick Miller MBA ’91 Peter Stott HD ’11 Christine Vernier Wim Wiewel Portland State Magazine is published three times a year, during fall, winter and spring terms. Contents may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. The magazine is printed on recycled paper. Portland State University is an affirmative action / equal opportunity institution. 2 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2015 DID YOU KNOW there are more than 165,000 of you out there? If you were to incorporate you would become Oregon’s second biggest city. This isn’t about trivia; it’s about poten- tial. PSU’s growing base of graduates is also its biggest untapped resource. That’s about to change. In partnership with the PSU Alumni Association, we are beginning an unprece- dented outreach effort to those of you who spent time here and are now enjoying life outside the University. We want to hear what you are up to at pdx.edu/fearless . Tell us how you are using what you learned here to make an impact on your community. Portland State has been the springboard for thousands of creative jobs, successful businesses, political careers and all kinds of other life journeys. Some of you lead high-tech startups, teach math to middle schoolers or make parts for the Interna- tional Space Station (See page 12). Some of you play in the NFL; some play jazz. One of you graduated this year at the age of 77 and plans to remain at PSU as a volunteer in an archaeology lab (See page 22). WE WANT TO HEAR more of these stories, celebrate them and share them. People like you add incredible value to our region. You are a big part of the reason U.S. News & World Report recently ranked us as one of the “most innovative” universities in the nation—on the same list as Stanford, Har- vard and MIT. As PSU becomes increas- ingly independent from the state, it is more important than ever to tell our story. And who better to tell it than our alumni? In short, we want you to not only take pride in your alma mater, but also to share it and show it. You will hear more in the coming weeks and months about our efforts to move forward on a number of fronts to build awareness and greater financial stability for PSU. That includes asking the 2016 Oregon Legislature for better state funding; working to ensure that state funds are distributed equitably among the public universities; launching a comprehensive campaign; carrying out our “reTHINK” cost efficiency innovations; and exploring the possibility of a local revenue source. In the meantime, please go to the web site pdx.edu/fearless to help us grow, thrive and fulfill our motto: “Let Knowledge Serve the City.” Thank you. Wim Wiewel PRESIDENT, PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY Dear Portland State Alumni, F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T 2016 MOST INNOVATIVE COLLEGES BEST