Portland State Magazine Spring 2015

SPRING 2015 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 29 Looking Back FIFTY YEARS AGO a small group of students made sure the nation knew the name Portland State College by winning NBC’s College Bowl, one of most popular national television shows of 1965. The Sunday quiz show, sponsored by General Electric, pitted teams of college whiz kids from across the country against each other. The PSC team, coached by the late speech professor Ben Padrow (right photo, lower left), knocked off its competitors for five consecutive weeks, retiring as champions, and setting a new record for total points scored. At the time Portland State had only been designated a college for 10 years. Jim Westwood, now senior counsel at Stoel Rives law firm in Portland, was captain of the team and is the sole surviving first-team member. The other members were Michael Smith (Smith Memorial Student Union was named in his memory), Larry Smith, and Robin Freeman. Alternates were Jim Cronin, Marv Foust, Doug Hawley, Al Kotz and Jim Watt. Student Brian Fothergill is credited for securing PSC a spot on the quiz show.  College Bowl team put Portland State on the map